EXPLOFJITIORS
1 T
V.J • JL i
'
HENRY M. STANLEY.
(From a photograph taken recently in London).
GREAT EXPLORATIONS
IN THE
WILDS OF AFRICA,
INCLUDING
SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S EXPEDITION
WITH A FORCE OF NEARLY TWO THOUSAND MEN TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE
TRADE ;
LIEUT. CAMERON'S "ACROSS AFRICA,"
WITH THESE TRAVELERS* MARVELOUS ACCOUNTS OF FIGHTING THE NATIVES,
HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, ELEPHANT AND LION,
AND
HENRY M. STANLEY'S
STORY OF HTS LAST AND G REATEST WORK AND EXPLORATIONS IN ORGAN-
IZING AND BRINGING INTO THE FAMILY OF NATIONS
THE CONGO FREE STATE,"
\VITH ITS OWN GOVERNMENT AND ITS OWN FLAG, AND THUS OPENING TO
THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD THE PRODUCTS OF FORTY-FIVE
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE— ONE OF THE GRANDEST CONQUESTS
EVER WON FOR CIVILIZATION IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY
— WITH A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF
"CHINESE" GORDON IN AFRICA.
THE WHOLE CAREFULLY EDITED BY
HON. J. T. HE ABLE Y, B.B.,
Author of " Napoleon ami his Marshals." " Washington and his Generals," " Sacred
.Mountains," etc., etc.
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.
TORONTO, ONT.
PUBLISHED BY A. H. HOVEY & CO., 10 KING STREET EAST.
R. A. H. MORROW, GENERAL AflFNT, ST. JOHN, N. B.
1886.
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INTEODUCTION.
ALL explorations in Africa in former years were made
by travelers simply to gratify curiosity or from a desire
to penetrate bej^ond lines reached by other men. All
the results they desired or expected to achieve were
amusement and fame. But in later years they have as-
sumed an entirely different aspect. From Livingstone,
who first began to open up the "dark continent," to
Cameron and Stanley, who pierced its very heart, all
the explorations have tended to one great end — the
civilization and Christianization of the vast population
that inhabits it. No matter what the ruling motives
may have been in each — whether, as in Livingstone, to
introduce Christianity ; or, in Baker, to put a stop to the
slave trade; or, in Stanley, to unlock the mystery
of ages — the tendency has been the same : to brino-
Africa into the family of continents instead of beino-
the earth's " pariah ;" to throw light on this black spot
of our planet, and make those who inhabit it practically
and morally what they are really — a portion of the hu-
man race.
The men who have contributed most to this great end
are those whose explorations are traced in this volume.
As in all books of travel there is much that is merely
persoual, and a great deal, though necessary to accurate
geography and natural science, }7et is of no interest to
the ordinary reader, one is able to curtail them without
in any way lessening their intrinsic value. So, also,
the incidents and adventures of any special interest may
be groped together without all those minute details that
go to make up a daily journal. In fact, the great draw-
back to the interest one takes in a book of travels, is,
those tedious details that go so far toward making it up.
What the traveller thinks worthy of recording, is not
-,^, ,,.,
-•' > i
8 INTRODUCTION.
always what the reader deems worthy of perusal. There
are always meteorological observations,geological theories,
dissertations on language and ethnological questions and
statistics, that may be more or less valuable, and yet
possess little interest to the general reader. All these
may be left out or results alone given, without not only
not injuring the book, but really adding to its interest.
We have acted on this theory in giving in one volume
the contents of seven. In doing this, we have endea-
vored to leave out nothing of real value to the general
reader, but, on the contrary, to make the narrative, by
being more consecutive and direct, more interesting.
The truth is, the trouble is not to make a large book of
travels, but a compact, racy, and readable one. The
tendency alwa}*s is to expand too much — to spread a
little matter over a large space. The works of the
travelers mentioned in this volume cover different
ground, and hence each one possesses an interest pecu-
liar to itself, while all tend to the same end. A person,
therefore, who reads the narrative of only one, gets but
a partial idea of what has been going on in Africa for
the last few years. It is desirable to know all, and yet
few can buy all the expensive books of the various trav-
elers. We have in this work endeavored to meet that
want, so that one, at a moderate expense, can acquaint
himself with all that has been lately achieved in Africa,
as well as obtain a thorough knowledge of the habits
and customs of the various people and tribes that in-
habit that continent.
Acknowledgment is due and is hereby tendered to
Messrs Scribner & Co. for their kind permission to draw
from Mr. Stanley's first volume, "How I found Living-
stone." Also to Messrs. Macmillan & Co., who have
kindly permitted us to extract from Sir Samuel Baker's
book " Ismailia."
J. T. HEADLEY.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE I.
STANLEY'S EXPEDITION TO FIND LIVINGSTONE.
PAGE
How Republican institutions develop character — Webster, Clay,
Lincoln, Grant, and Stanley — The latter a native cf Wales —
Educated in a poor-house — Becomes a teacher — Ships as a
cabin-boy to New Orleans — Adopted by a merchant and takes
his name — Lives in the Arkansas forest — Given up as dead
by his adopted father — Returns on board a Mississippi flat-
boat — Death of his father without making a will — Life with
the miners and Indians — Enters the Confederate army — Is
taken prisoner — Enlists in the United States navy — Goes to
join the Cretans to fight against Turkey — Robbed by brigands
— Travels — Visits his native place — Gives the children of the
Poor-house a dinner — Makes an address — Herald correspond-
ent in the war between England and Abyssinia — Beats the
Government messenger — Sent to Spain as war correspondent
— Receives a startling telegram from Mr. Bennett to come to
Paris — Hasty departure — Affectionate parting with children —
Singular interview with Mr. Bennett — Accepts the leadership
of an expedition to find Livingstone — His peculiar fitness for
the undertaking — His remarkable qualities as exhibited in
this and his last march across Africa . . 21
CHAPTER II.
'The Dark Continent" — Description of it — Difficulties of exploring
it — Hatred of white men — The first real encroachment made by
a missionary — Description of the portion to be explored — Its
articles of commerce — Its future destiny 37
10 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER m.
PAGE
Outlines of Livingstone's explorations during a period of nearly
thirty years — First exploration — Crosses the Continent from
west to east — His second expedition — The last — His supposed
death — Sympathy for him — Indifference of the British Govern-
ment to his fate — Bennett's bold resolution to send Stanley
after him . . 43
CHAPTER IV.
Stanley's search for Livingstone'— Lands at Zanzibar — Organizes his
expedition — The start — Stanley's feelings — The march — Its
Difficulties — Men sick — Delays — Meeting with a chief — Dialogue
on the burial of a horse — Loss of his bay horse — Sickness and
desertion — Terrible travelling — A hospitable chief — A gang of
slaves — African belles — Aludicrous spectacle — A queer supersti-
tion— Punishment of a deserter — A ludicrous contrast — A beauti-
ful country — News from Livingstone — A walled town — Stanley
attacked with fever. . 50
CHAPTER V.
The rainy season sets in — Disgusting insects — The cook caught steal-
ing— His punishment and flight — The march — Men dispatched
after the missing cook — Their harsh treatment by the Sultana
of the wallel town — A hard march — Crossing the Makata river
— The rainy season ended — Five miles of wading — An enchant-
ing prospect — Reaches his third caravan, and finds it de-
moralized— Shaw, its -leader, a drunken spendthrift — Delays
the march — Stanley's dispatch to him — Lake Ugombo — Scene
between Stanley and Shaw at breakfast : the latter knocked
down — Attempt to murder Stanley — Good advice of an Arab
Sheikh— A feast— Farquhar left behind 64
CHAPTER VI.
Three of his caravans meet — A waterless desert traversed — Stanley
down with the fever — A land of plenty and of extortion — A
populous district — A modern Hercules — Au African village —
Stanley curbs his temper for economy's sake — A good Sultan —
News from one of his caravans — Curious natives — Flogged by
Stanley into proper behaviour — Salt Plains — Stanley stops to
doctor himself — A curious visit from a chief — A noble African
tribe — A mob — Quarrel over the route to be taken — Settled by
Stanley — A merry march — Condensation of Stanley's account
of the character of the country and the tribes of Central Africa. 77
CONTENTS. 11
CHAPTEE VII.
PAGE
Eeception in Unyanyembe — His house — Eeports of the chiefs of
his caravans — A feast — Luxurious living of the Arabs — Arab
country — War against Mirambo, in which Stanley becomes an
ally — 5s taken sick — Bombay thrashed — Stanley joins the Arab
army — Capture of Mirambo's stronghold — Villages laid waste —
Mirambo's revenge — Arabs defeated and Stanley left alone — Is
sick — Final departure— His Indomitable will and courage — A
touching extract from his journal — Deserters — Shaw, the
last white man, left behind — Corpses on the road — Mollifies
a sullen chief — Strong medicine — A ludicrous scene — The
paradise of hunters — A right royal hunt 96
CHAPTEE VIII.
A beautiful picture — A mutiny —Narrow escape of Stanley — Saved
by his prompt courage — Swift punishment of the leaders of the
mutiny — Exciting news from Ujiji— Difficulties in the way — Ee-
solves to go round the next village — Stealthy marching — A new
danger — Vain attempt to stop a woman screaming — Eapid
marching — Stanley startled by the sound of waves bursting in
rocky caverns — An unexpected danger — Narrow escape — The
end approaches — Hurrah Ill
CHAPTEE IX.
View of the Tanganika— First sight of Ujiji— The American flag —
Livingstone's servants— Dr. Livingstone, I presume — The meet-
ing— Livingstone's letter-bag — A budget of news — Bringing new
life — The cook's excitement — Livingstone's deplorable condition
— The dream realized 118
CHAPTEE X.
Eest at Ujiji — Stanley's love for Livingstone the best eulogium on
his own character — The night — The morning interview — Life
with Livingstone — Survey the Tanganika together —Livingstone
accompanies Stanley to Unyenyembe — The long march — Life
in the place — Preparations for parting — The last breakfast —
The last sad farewell — Stanley's homeward march — Its perils
— Inundations — Makata swamp — Terrible marching — Stanley
sends off for relief — Its arrival — Bagornayo reached at last —
Noisy entrance — Stanley's joy — It is suddenly dashed— Cruel
conduct.of the press — start for home 130
12 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S EXPEDITION UP THE NILE.
PAGB
The expedition of the Khedive of Egypt to suppress the slave trade
— Sir Samuel W. Baker placed at the head of it — Extent of the
slave trade — Outfit of the expedition — Preparations on a grand
scale — The army — The rendezvous at Khartoum — Failure on
the part of the Khedive — The expedition starts — Obstacles met
— Cutting channels for the fleet — Slow, toilsome work — A hip-
popotamus charges the vessel — Men become sick— Baker shoots
a hippopotamus — A crocodile killed — The expedition perman-
ently stopped — Discouragements 141
CHAPTER XII.
Baker's heroic wife — A slaver caught — A sickening spectacle — Free-
dom— Description of the camp — A cargo of slaves discovered —
Slaves freed — Wholesale matrimony — Exploring the White Nile
—A new start — A new lake — The White Nile reached at last —
A fierce night attack by a hippopotamus — A thrilling scene —
Oondokoro at last reached 151
CHAPTER XIII.
The country formally taken possession of — War at last— A night at-
tack on a native vi lage — Disaffection in the army — Attacked by
crocodiles — An old man-eater killed — A campaign against the
enemy — The army proposes to return home — Baker obtains
corn and restores subordination — The army greatly reduced —
A fight — Target-shootiug at men « 160
CHAPTER XIV.
Vessels leave for Khartoum with the invalids — Abdullah's villainy —
Exploring the Wuite Nile B frien.hy tribe — Interview
with the Sheikh — Sorcery and Talismans — Mn^ic — An elephant
hunt — Its moral effects — Scramble for the flesh — The tribes
seek peace — Elephants enter the fort — A wild scene — Elephants
gathering fruit — An adventure with a hippopotamus — The coun-
try at peace — Baker resolves to start south 176
CONTENTS. 13
CHAPTER XV.
PAGE
The determination to advance — A desperate position— Soldiers draw
the carts to Lahore — A beautiful country — The future capital of
Africa — Beaches Fatiko — Power of music over the natives —
Grotesque dancing of naked women — Starts for Unyoro— beauti-
ful country depopulated — Proclaims peace — Livingstone 187
CHAPTER XVI.
The start — Exodus of the white ants— A great luxury— A beautiful
country— Masindi— King Abba Rega— His walk and appearance
—The interview— Buffoons— Queer result of a lecture on the
slave trade — A station commenced — Planting vegetables — The
king's visit— Magnetic battery— Photographs— A curious inter-
view—Formal annexation of the country — Sends off a part of
his force — Commerce established — Vegetables planted — Dark
omens — A druukea king— Asks after Livingstone— A fort built 196
CHAPTER XVH.
The troops poisoned— A sudden attack — The town set on fire— A
sad spectacle — Baker discouraged — A perilous position — Feara
of Abdullah — Hypocrisy of Abba Rega— Presents pass between
him and Baker — Treachery — A narrow escape — Baker's quart-
ers set on fire — A second attack — The neighboring villages set
on fire —Forethought of Baker's wife — Preparations to start for
ftionga 204
CHAPTER XVIII.
The start— The station fired— The march— The country aroused —
An ambuscade — Howarte speared — Second day's march — A
sharp fight — -Stripped for the race— Constant fighting — Eating
the enemy's liver— Foweera at last reached — Interview with the
king— His appearance— Baker offers to make him ruler over
the territory of Abba Rega — A treaty made— Senled by drinking
each others' blood — Baker resolves to return to Fatiko — Arrival
of messengers with bad news — The return — The wife compelled
to walk— Arrival at Fatiko— Treachery— The attack— The flight
and pursuit — The victory — Baker turns surgeon ,". 212
14 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
PAGE
Arrival of cannibals — Children devoured — Small-Pox disperses them
— A grand hunt — The modes of conducting it by nets and fire
— The result — Life at Fatiko — A second hunt — Killing a lion —
A woman's rights meeting — A happy community, in which
neither religious dogmas or law cases enter — News from Liv-
ingstone— King Mtesa — Arrival of reinforcements — Bad military
conduct — Baker writes out a set of rules for Abdullah and starts
for home — Releases captive women and children — An expres-
sion of gratitude not asked for — Kissed by a naked beauty —
Concluding remarks — A missionary's outfit — Official report —
A handsome tribute to his wife — Africa's future . . . 223
CHAPTER XX.
LIEUTENANT CAMERON'S EXPEDITION.
Its origin — Change of leaders — Difficulties at the outset — Start
— A tall and manly race — Naked savages — News from Living-
stone— A Methuselah — The country improved — Unyanyembe
reached — Occupies Stanley's house — A slave auction — Sick-
ness and discouragements — A stunning blow — Livingstone
dead — Death of Dillon — Despondent thoughts — A desperate
resolve — Crossing the Lugungwa — Ujiji 236
CHAPTER XXI.
Cameron pushes on to the Lualaba, and resolves to follow it to the
sea — It has no connection with the Nile system — No canoes to
be had — Tipo-tipo — Handsome women — Inquisitiveness of the
women — Stopped by a ruse — Interview with King Kasougo —
Resolves to visit some curious lakes — Attacked by the natives —
Contracts with a slave-trader to take him to the coast — Explora-
tions of lakes — Houses built in the lakes — Description of
Kasongo and his character and habits — His harem — The rules
that govern it — The religion of the country — A curious bridal
ceremony — Floating islands — The Congo route abandoned 248
CHAPTER XXII.
The Departure — Character of the Caravan — Horrible ceremonies at
the Burial of a Chief of Urua — Start of the Caravan — Its bad
CONTENTS. 15
PAGE
conduct — Joined by a slave- gang — Its sorrowful appearance
— The camps of the caravan — Dreary marching — Appearance
of the country — Naked women dressing their hair elaborately
— Arrival at Alvez village — The luxury of Coffee, Onions and
Soap — Beduced state of Cameron's men— Beaches a Portuguese
trader's house — A festival — A lascivious dance — Beautiful
scenery — Interview with King Kongo — Cameron's sufferings
begin — Desperate condition — A forced march to the sea with a
few men — First sight of the sea — His welcome — His danger-
ous sickness — Visit to the Consul at Loanda — Men sent to
Zanzibar — His return home — The slave trade 256
CHAPTEB XXIII.
STANLEY'S LAST GBEAT EXPEDITION.
Stanley thinks of Africa and Livingstone's unfinished work — Deter-
mines to complete it — Takes a boat of his own along — At Zan-
zibar again — Starts for the interior — Takes a new route — The
country passed through — Deserted by his guides — Loses the
path — A painful march — Starvation and death — A gloomy pros-
pect— Two young lions killed and made into broth — A trunk
used for a kettle — A painful spectacle — Men sent off for food at
last return — Joy of the camp — The march — A new type of
natives — Naked beauty — Sickness and death — Death of Ed-
ward Pocoke — His burial — Stanley's letter to his father — A man
murdered — Itwru reached — A populous plain — Intercourse with
the people — A magic doctor 273
CHAPTEB XXIV.
The camp — View from it — Hostile demonstrations — A three days'
fight — A massacre — A modern Sodom — A terrible vengeance —
Twenty-one of the expedition killed — A complete ruin — Provis-
ions obtained — The march resumed — Only a hundred and
ninety-four men left out of three hundred with which he started
— A gloomy outlook — Mistaken for Mirambo — The Nyanza
reached at last — A description of the country he had passed
through 285
CHAPTEB XXV.
Mustering his force — The death-roll— Selecting a crew of eleven
men, he sets sail — Leaves the camp in charge of Pocoke and
16 CONTENTS.
PAGE
Barker — " Speke's Bay" — Coasting northward — Shimeeyu
River— A large island — Description of the shores and people —
Strange stories told him — A lonely channel — Superstition of the
natives — " Bridge Island " — Under the equator— Stanley looked
upon as a being from another world — Fleeing from hippopotami
— Treachery — A narrow escape — Three-quarters of the lake
thoroughly explored 295
CHAPTER XXVI.
Stanley the first white man that ever sailed round Victoria Nyanza —
Establishes the southern source of the Nile — Treachery of the
natives — Stanley's revenge — A hostile fleet scattered by him —
Three men killed — Two singular islands — The Ripon falls — The
Nile — Curious inlets — Mtesa, king of Uganda — His reception of
Stanley — Imposing ceremonies — A noble native monarch — His
capital — His army and large territory— Half converted to
Christianity by Stanley — Anxious to have missionaries sent
to his country — Stanley's mode of sending them and the kind
of men they should be — A mission established and broken up
— False statements in the papers about it corrected 303
CHAPTER XXVII.
Stanley continues his explorations — Drunken natives — A suspicious
reception — A peaceful night — A wild waking up — A startling
spectacle — Hurried departure — Magas?a's fleet — Lack of food —
A fearful storrn — Bumbireh Island— A bright prospect — Stanley
entrapped — In deadly peril — A crowd of demons — A fearful
night — Prompt action — Barely saved— Swift and terrible revenge
— A frightful storm — Refuge Island — A grateful camp — Provi-
sions secured — Another storm — A staunch boat — Steering for
camp — His joyful greeting — Excitement of the men — The
secret of the men's affection for him. . . . 310
CHAPTER XXVHI.
The work accomplished — Feelings of satisfaction — Pocoke's report
— A narrow escape for the expedition — Death of Barker— Sweet
repose — Pleasant memories — Future anticipations — Waiting for
Magassa — Resolves to return to Uganda by land — Is prevented
— Sends to the king of Ukerewe — His request granted — Visits
him — The interview — Royal hospitality — A stratagem — Stanley
starts for Uganda — A new camp — Keturn to the old one —
Conspirators foiled — Refuge Island 325
CONTENTS. 17
CHAPTER XXIX
A rest — Resolves to punish theBiwnbireh — Sets sail — Message to the
people of Bumbireh — Imprisons the king of Iroba — The king of
Bumbireh injchains — Arrival of Mtesa's canoes — Hostility of the
natives — Moves on Bumbireh — The savages expecting him —
Plan of battle — The battle — Killed and wounded — Rejoicing
over the victory — The natives completely subdued — Stanley
gives them a lecture — Effect of the victory on the neighboring
tribes — His losses — Prepares to start for the Albert Nyanza —
Size of the Victoria Nyanza — Muta Nzienge — Is it and the
Albert one lake — Stanley's journal and map do not agree —
Mtesa at war — Stanley aids him — Uganda — Abba Rega once
more — Baker's and Stanley's journal agree — Stanley asks for
fifty thousand men — Mtesa gives him two thousand 335
CHAPTER XXX.
Force of the expedition to Albert Nyanza — Its start — First march —
Through hostile Unyoro — The encampment — Mount Gambara-
gara — Its summit occupied by white people — Live on a rock in
the middle of a lake — Their origin — Other strange tribes — The
march — Frightened people — The lake reached without opposi-
tion— A miserable failure — The reason of it — Stanley's feelings
— The return — Report to Mtesa — His wrath— Liberal offers —
Wonders of the country — A generous, peaceful king — Lake
Windermere — Source of the Nile — Absurd theories — The hot
springs of Mtagata 343
CHAPTER XXXI.
Back to Ujiji — Pleasant Associations — The Mystery of Tanganika
— No Outlet — Cameron's Expedition — Thinks he Discovers the
Outlet — Doubts of Stanley — The Lake constantly Rising —
Stanley starts to examine for himself — Bags two Zebras — A
whole village Massacred — Reaches Cameron's Outlet — Ex-
plores it thoroughly — Declares Cameron to be Mistaken — The
Future Outlet — Livingstone's Influence — The Small-pox in
Camp — Desertion of his Men — PromptMeasures — Crosses the
Tanganika — More Desertions — People of Manyema — Singu-
lar Custom ; ... 359
CHAPTER XXXII.
Livingstone at Nyangwe — Remembrance of him by the natives —
"The Good Man" — His troubles here awaken Stanley's pity —
18 CONTENTS.
PAGE
A magnificent country — Glowing description of it — Ruined by
slavery — Tno slave trade — Its character — Ebony skeletons —
Horrible sights — The traders — M8de of capture — Faithlessness
of the Prince of Zanzibar — Extracts from Stanley's journal
— A depopulated country — The way to stop the traffic 368
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Stanley meets Tipo-tipo, the friend of Cameron — Learns all
about Cameron's movements — Stanley warned not to go on
— Fearful stories — Contracts with Tipo-Tipo to escort him sixty
camps — Self-reliance of Stanley — Women an obstacle in the way
of advancing — Nyangwe — Its market — A lively scene — The two
chiefs — A large harem — The original inhabitants — Strength of
the expedition 380
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The great march begins — Gloomy prospects — March through a
dense forest — Axes used to clear the way — A Village in the
forest — Superiority of the inhabitants — The men disheartened
— Slow marching — Discontent — Difficulties increase — Tipo-tipo
wishes to be released from his engagement — People that smelt
iron-ore — A row of skulls as an ornament for the village —
Hunting Sokos — The Cannibals — Naked women — The Lua-
laba reached — Not to be left again — The natives crossing the
river 387
CHAPTER XXXV.
Congo changed to Livingstone — Frightened Natives — the March
— Deserted villages — The land party lost — Stanley's anxiety
a dash on the natives, one man killed — Uledi dispatched
after the missing party — The Lost Found — The March — A
Floating Hospital— Passing rapids — Tipo-Tipo wishes to turn
back — A queer village — Increasing sickness — The dead every
day thrown into the river — A fight — Marching on — A desperate
fight of two days — A successful stratagem — Tipo-tipo resolves
to leave — Stanley's speech to his men — Christmas day — A frolic
A boat race — The parties separate — A touching farewell — A
sad day — Stanley tries to arouse the men 394
CONTENTS. 19
CHAPTEE XXXVI.
A common fate binding all — " We want to eat you" — The home of
the Hippopotamus — The persuasive eloquence of tbe cannibal
prisoners — A novel sensation — A peaceful tribe — the cannibals
prevent a fight — A sudden attack — A successful stratagem — An-
other fight — A hard carry around the falls — An advanced tribe
— River full of Islands — Magnificent scenery — Stanley's ex-
pedition— A grand barbecue — A necessary fight — Night work —
Seventy-eight hours' incessant toil — Passing the rapids— A lost
man — A thrilling spectacle - Great daring — Lost men — A fearful
night — Rescue in the morning — Brave Uledi — A carry round the
falls — A brilliant manoeuvre — In a net — Man meat — Another
fight — The Congo starts for the sea— Another fight — A deserted
village — Around the falls — Muskets — A. fight — Home of the
Hippopotami — A new war-cry — Astonishment of the natives at
seeing a white man — More enemies — Stanley's speech — A
fight — Three hundred and fifteen muskets against forty-four —
Starving — Friendly savages — Abundant provisions — Death and
burial of a chieftain's wife— A friendly tribe — Beautiful women
— Serpents in camp — The last and fiercest fight — Stanley Pool
— Friendly chiefs — Curious interview with King Itisi — A
general peace 404
CHAPTEE XXXVH.
Tribal differences — What is the cause of them — The Congo Tribes
— The cannibals left behind — Change of scenery — Livingstone
Falls — A wild stretch of water — Carrying boats over land —
Exhausting, slow work — A canoe lost — Stanley falls thirty feet
— Eocky falls — A fearful sight — Kalulu over the falls — A canoe
shoots the Kalulu Falls in safety — A third canoe shoots the
falls and disappears — Soudi's strange story — More rapids — '.
Difficulties increase — Narrow escape of Stanley — Joy at his de-
liverance— Four cataracts in sight — Strange music — Less than
a mile a day — The big cataract — Scaling a mountain one
thousand feet high — Astonishment of the natives 422
CHAPTEE XXXVin.
Last instructions — A magnificent forest — Stanley thinks of dug-
outs at home — Eesolves to build canoes — The first tree felled
— Two canoes finished — The boats and expedition moving over-
land— Arabs stealing — Redeeming a captive held for theft —
Canoes over the mountain — Best — Third canoe built — Dispirit-
ing news — Native superstition — A narrow escape — Launching
20 CONTENTS.
PAGE
of the third canoe — Eains— Eise of the river— Storms — The
expedition moves over the mountain — Frank takes the canoes
by the river — Mowwa Falls — A terrific scene — Passing the
Mowwa Falls— Uledi caught in theft— His sentence— A touch-
ing scene — Atonement — Forgiveness— Christian principles
in heathens — A strange superstition— The natives demand
that Stanley's note-book be burned up — A painful dilemma —
A successful stratagem — Shakespeare burned —Frank's last
night with Stanley 432
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Elevated from the place of servant to that of friend — Proposes to
toss up to determine whether they shall follow the Lualaba to
the sea or not — Chance decides they shall — Pocoke's shoes
become worn out in the forest — Is made lame — Passage of the
Mowwa Falls — Stanley's peril — Pocoke's fatal self-will— His
death — The sight that stunned Stanley — A gloomy night for him
— Pocoke's character .. 441
CHAPTER XL.
Stanley mourning for his friend — A mutiny— Sadness of Stanley
— Return of the deserters — Boats carried over a hill — The
carpenter carried over the falls— Stanley runs the Mbelo Falls —
Miraculous escape— Feeling of his people— The end of the chasm
One mile and a quarter a day for eight months— The Arabs
steal, and are made prisoners — Arabs left in slavery for stealing
— F alls of Isingila reached — Stanley resolves to leave the river —
The Lady Alice abandoned— The march for Boma— Uledi slaps
a king in the face— Stanley sends a letter to Boma — The
messengers depart — He moves on — Meets an enemy who be-
comes a friend — A glad surprise — Food in abundance -Luxuries
for Stanley — A song of triumph — Stanley's feelings, as shown
by his letter— Reach Boma— The reaction— Stanley offered a
steamer home— Prefers to stand by his Arabs— Reception at
Cape Town— Zanzibar reached— Joy of the Arabs — An affecting
scene — Farewell to Stanley 449
CHAPTER XLI.
The great eighteen hundred mile journey down the Lnalaba — Dis-
couraged by timid Arabs at Nyangwe — Forward in spite of all
— Terrible tribes of cannibals dispute the way — The mid« African
plateau — Perils and difficulties in the region of the cataracts —
Among the friendly natives — A land of large towns and ivory
temples — The basin, watersheds, trend and length of the mighty
river 454
CHAPTER I.
HENRY M. STANLEY.
How Republican Institutions Develop Character — Webster, Clay, Lin-
coln, Grant and Stanley— The Latter a Native of Wales — Educated
in a Poor-House—Becomes a Teacher — Ships as a Cabin-boy to
New Orleans — Adopted by a Merchant and takes his Name — Lives
in the Arkansas Forest — Given up as Dead by his Adopted Father
— Returns on Board a Mississippi Flat-Boat — Death of his Father
without making a Will — Life with the Miners and Indians — Enters
the Confederate Army — Is taken Prisoner— Enlists in the United
States Navy — Goes to join the Cretans to Fight against Turkey —
Robbed by Brigands — Travels — Visits his Native Place — Gives the
Children of the Poor-House a Dinner — Makes an Address — Herald
Correspondent in the War between England and Abyssinia — Beats
the Government Messenger — Sent to Spain as War Correspondent
— Receives a Startling Telegram from Mr. Bennett to come to Paris
— Hasty Departure — Affectionate Parting with Children — Singular
Interview with Mr. Bennett — Accepts the Leadership of an Expedi-
tion to find Livingstone — His peculiar Fitness for the Undertaking
— His Remarkable Qualities as Exhibited in this and His last March
across Africa.
STANLEY is one of those characters that forcibly
illustrate the effect of Republican institutions in
developing a strong man. Despotism cannot fetter
thought — that is free everywhere — but it can and does
restrain its outworking into practical action. The former
do not make great strong men, they allow those endowed
by nature with extraordinary gifts, free scope for action.
This fact never had, perhaps, a more striking illustration
than in the French Revolution. The iron frame-work
of despotism had rested so long over the heads of the
people that it had become rusted in its place, and no
individual force or strength could rend it asunder. But
when the people, in their fury, shattered it into frag-
ments, there was exhibited the marvelous effects of in-
dividual character. A lieutenant of artillery vaulted to
3
22 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the throne of France and made marshals and dukes and
kings of plebeians. A plebeian himself, he took to his
plebeian bed the daughter of the Cresars. He took base-
born men and pitted them against nobles of every de-
gree, and the plebeians proved themselves the better
men. Thus, no matter how despotic he became, he and
his marshals and new-made kings were the most terrible
democracy that could be preached in Europe. The
mighty changes that were wrought, simply show what
results may be expected when the whole world shall be
thus set free and every man be allowed to strike his
best and strongest blow. When the race is thus let
loose on the planet we inhabit, we shall see the fulfill-
ment of that prophecy, "a nation shall be born in a day."
The same truth is apparent in our own country, though
its exhibitions are not so sudden and startling. In-
deed they could not be, because this freedom of action
has no restraints to break through, and hence no violent
effort is required. Every man grows and expands by
degrees without let or hindrance. In a despotism, Web-
ster would probably have taught school in a log school-
house all his days, and the "mill boy of the sloshes"
never made the great forum of a nation ring with his
words of eloquence, nor the "rail-splitter" been the fore-
most man of his time, nor the tanner-boy the president
of the republic. Republican institutions never made
any of those men, they simply allowed them to make
themselves. Stanley is the latest and most extraordinary
example of this. It is folly to point to such men as he
as a stimulus to youthful ambition, to show what any
man may become. No amount of study or effort can
make such a boy or man as he was and is. The energy,
daring, self-confidence, promptness and indomitable will
were born in him, not acquired. The Latin proverb,
"Poeta nascitur, nonfit" the poet is born, not made, is
not truer of the poet than of a character like him. His
characteristics may be pointed out for the admiration of
others, his good qualities made a lesson to teach youth
how perseverance, and determination, and work will
vSTANLEY's BIRTHPLACE AND REAL NAME. 23
elevate a man whatever may be his walk in life. A
man born with a combination of qualities like Stanley's,
must have room given him or he will make room. He
has such a surplus of energy and will-power that it must
have scope and field for action. A despotism could not
have repressed him. He would either have become a
wanderer or adventurer in strange lands, or he would
have headed a revolution, vaulted to power or to a
scaffold, as others have done before him.
But although Stanley developed his whole character
under free institutions, he was not born under them,
being a native of Wales. He was born near Denbigh, in
1840. His parents' name was Rowland. At three, he
was sent to the poor-house at St. Asaph, to get an edu-
cation. Here the poor, unpromising lad remained till he
had finished such an education as this institution could
furnish, and then sought employment as a teacher; and
for a year was employed as such at Mold, Flintshire.
But now the strong instincts of his nature began to show
themselves. He felt that a school-teacher's life, how-
ever honorable and useful, could not be his, and, with
his scant earnings, shipped as cabin-boy in a ship bound
for New Orleans. Arriving in safety, he began to look
about for employment. By what lucky chance it hap-
pened we do not know, but he fell into the hands of a
merchant named Stanley, who became so attached to
the frank, energetic, ambitious youth that he finally
adopted him and gave him his name. Thus the Welsh
boy Rowland became the American youth Stanley.
Fortune had certainly smiled on him, and his future
seemed secure. As the partner and eventually heir of
his benefactor, as he doubtless would become, fortune,
ease, and a luxurious life lay before him. But even
here, so pleasantly situated and cared for, the same rest-
less spirit that has since driven him over the world, ex-
hibited itself, and he wandered off into the wilds of
Arkansas, and ia his log-cabin on the banks of the
Wichita River, with the pine-trees moaning above him,
he dwelt for a long time, among the strange, wild dreams
2-i I X I'LORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of imagination and daring youth. His adopted father
mourned him as dead, never expecting to behold him
again. But he made his way to the Mississippi, and
going on board a flat-boat, became the companion of
the rough western characters to be found on these boats,
and slowly floated down to New Orleans, and was re-
ceived by his overjoyed father as one risen from the
dead.
But just here, fortune, which seemed to have had him
in her special care, took another step forward by appar-
ently deserting him. His adopted father suddenly died
without making his will. His place and prospective
heirship both disappeared together, and the curtain was
let down between him and a pleasant successful future.
Doubtless that father intended to provide for his adopted
son, but now all the property went to the natural legal
heirs, and he was once more thrown upon the world.
In the delirium of an African fever, tossing in his ham-
mock, far from the haunts of civilization, there came
back to him an episode of his life at this point. We
learn that impelled by his roving disposition, he wan-
dered away among the California miners, and at last
among the Indians, and sat by their council fires. He
seemed destined to see every phase of human life, to be-
come acquainted with the roughest characters, to prepare
him for the wildest of all men, the African savage. This
kind of life also toughened and hardened the fibre of
the youth, so that he settled down into the man with a
constitution of iron, without which he could not have
endured the trials he has since undergone, and still re-
tain his health and physical powers unworn. At this
time a new field opened before him. The civil war
broke out, and being a Southern man, he enlisted in the
Confederate army. This was a kind of service just
adapted to his peculiar character, one in which a man
with the courage, daring, energy, promptness and in-
domitable will that he possessed, was sure to win fame
and promotion. But before he had time to exhibit
these qualities, fate, that seemed against him to human
HIS MILITARY SERVICES. 25
eyes, again advanced a step toward future success by
causing him to be taken prisoner b}^ the Union troops.
As a prisoner he was worthless, and the Union cause
really having his sympathies, he proposed to enlist in
the Northern army. Whether the military authorities
were afraid of this sudden conversion, or not daring to
give too much freedom of action to one who showed by
his whole bearing and language, that there was no
undertaking too daring for him to attempt, we are not
told, but they put him where he would probably have
little chance to show what stuff he was made of, and he
was placed on the iron-clad ship Ticonderoga. It is said,
he was released as a prisoner and volunteered to enlist
in the navy. Be that as it may, though totally unfit
for service of any kind on board of a man-of-war, he soon
became acting ensign. At the close of the war he looked
about for some field of active service, and what little
war he had seen seemed to fit his peculiar character, and
hearing that the Cretans were about to attempt to throw
off the Turkish yoke, he resolved to join them. He
proceeded thither with two other Americans, after hav-
ing first made an engagement with the New York Herald
as its correspondent. Disgusted, it is said, with the in-
surgent leaders, he abandoned his purpose, and having a
sort of roving commission from Mr. Bennett, he deter-
mined to travel in the East. But he and his fellow-
travellers were attacked by Turkish brigands, and robbed
of all their money and clothing. They laid their com-
plaint before Mr. Morris, our minister at Constantinople,
who in turn laid it before the Turkish Government. At
the same time he advanced them funds to supply their
wants and they departed. After various journeyings he
finally returned to England. Here a strong desire seized
him to visit the place of his nativity in Wales, the house
where he was born, and the humble dwelling where he
received the first rudiments of his education at St. Asaph.
One can imagine the feelings with which this bronzed
young man, who had travelled so far and wide, entered
the quiet valley from which he had departed so long ago
26 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
to seek his fortune. It speaks welj for his heart, that
his sympathies turned at once toward the poor-ho useof
which he had been an inmate in his childhood. Remem-
bering that the greatest boon that could have been con-
ferred at that time on him would have been a good, gen-
erous dinner, he resolved to give those poor children one.
One would like to have been present at it. The daring
young adventurer in the presence of those simple, won-
der-struck children would make a good subject for a
picture. We venture to say that Mr. Stanley enjoyed
that unobtrusive meal in that quiet Welsh valley more
than he has ever since enjoyed a banquet with nobles and
princes; and as the shadows of life lengthen he will look
back on it with more real pleasure. He addressed them,
giving them a familiar talk, telling them that he was
once one of their number, accompanying it with good
advice, saying for their encouragement, and to stimulate
them to noble endeavors, that all he had been in the
past and all he hoped to be in the future, he should at-
tribute to the education he had received in that poor-house.
This was a real episode in his eventful life, and, though
it doubtless soon passed away in the more stirring scenes
on which he entered, yet the remembrance of it still lin-
gers around that quiet, retired Welsh valley, and, to-
day, the name of Stanley is a household word there, and
the pride and glory of its simple inhabitants. And as
time goes on and silvers those dark hairs, and the
"almond-tree flourishes" and "desire fails, because man
goeth to his long home," he, too, will remember it as one
of those green oases he once longed to see and found in
the arid desert.
In 1867, then twenty-seven years of age, he returned
to the United States and, in the next year, accompanied
the English army in its campaign against Theodore,
King of Abyssinia, set on foot to revenge the wrongs the
latter had committed against the subjects and represen-
tatives of the British government. He went as corres-
pondent of the New York Herald, and gave a vivid and
clear account of the painful march and skirmishes up to
BEATING THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 27
the last great battle in the king's stronghold, where, with
a gallant dash, the fortress was taken, the king killed
and the war ended. With that promptness in acting,
which is one of his chief characteristics, he at once dis-
patched the news of the victory and the ending of the
campaign to London, beating the governmental dispatches
sent by the commander-in-chief, so that one morning the
readers of the London newspapers knew that of which
the government was ignorant. This, of course, was a
genuine surprise. A young American newspaper cor-
respondent, without a vessel at his command, had never-
theless, by his enterprise, beat the governmental messen-
ger, and steady old conservative England was disgusted
to find its time-honored custom reversed, which was
that the government should first give notice of successes
to the public, leaving to newspaper correspondents to fill
up the minor details. But an enterprising young Ameri-
can had furnished the important news, leaving the
British government the secondary duty of supplying these
details. Notwithstanding the admiration of the enterprise
that had accomplished this great feat, there was a ludi-
crous aspect to the affair, in the position in which it
placed official personages, that raised a quiet laugh on
both continents. His letters contain the best history of
that expedition that has ever been written. This was
still another onward step in the great work before him,
of which he, as yet, had no intimation. The next year,
1868, he returned to the United States, and in the follow-
ing year was sent by the Herald into Spain, to follow
the fortunes of the civil war there, as correspondent.
Like everything else that he undertook, he performed
his duties more than faithfully. Exposure, danger,
hardships, nothing interfered when there was a prospect
of acquiring valuable information. It mattered not to
him whether he was on the margin or in the vortex of
battle — he never thought of anything but the object be-
fore him and toward which he bent all his energies.
His letters from the seat of war not only gave the best
description of the battles fought and of the -military
28 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRIf'A.
position of affairs, l»ut, also, of the political state of the
kingdom. But while he was here, considering himself
fixed down for an indefinite period, for Spain is prover-
bial for the protracted duration of its civil wars, Mr.
Bennett, in Paris, was planning an expedition to go in
search of Dr. Livingstone, buried, alive or dead, some-
where in the heart of Africa. The sympathies of every-
body were enlisted in his fate, yet the British govern-
ment, though he had done so much to enhance the fame
of his native country, refused to stir a step toward
ascertaining his fate or relieving him if in want or
bondage. The Royal Geographical Society, ashamed of
the apathy and indifference of the government, had
started a subscription to raise funds from private sources
to defray the expenses of an expedition to go in search
of him. In the meantime this American editor, scorning
alike state patronage or private help, conceived the bold
project of finding him himself. Looking round for a
suitable leader to command an expedition, his eyes rested
on Stanley in Spain. And here should be noted the
profound sagacity of Mr. Bennett in selecting such a
leader for this desperate expedition, that was to go no
one knew where, and end no one knew at what point.
Most people thought it was a mammoth advertisement
of the New York Herald, nothing more. If he was in
earnest, why did he not select some one of the many
African explorers who were familiar with the regions of
Central Africa, and had explored in the vicinity of where
Livingstone was by the best judges, supposed to be, if
alive? Men, for instance, like Speke, Baker, Bui-ton,
Grant and others. This certainly would have given
eclat to the expedition, and, if it failed in its chief object,
would unquestionably furnish new facts for the geogra-
pher and the man of science. But to send one who
made no pretensions to science, no claims to be a
meteorologist, botanist, geologist, or to be familiar with
astronomical calculations, all ol which are indispensable
to a great explorer, seemed absurd. But Mr. Bennett
had no intention of making new scientific or geographi-
MR. BENNETT'S PROFOUND SAGACITY. 29
cal discoveries. He had but one object in view — to find
Dr. Livingstone — and on the true Napoleonic system of
selecting the best man to accomplish a single object, he,
with Napoleonic sagacity, fixed on Stanley. The cele-
brated men who would have given greater distinction to
the enterprise would, doubtless, divide up their time and
resources between scientific research and the chief object
of the expedition, and thus cause delays that might de-
feat it ; or, with more or less of the martinet about them,
push their researches only to a reasonable extent and be
content with reports instead of personal investigation.
But he wanted a man who had but one thing to do, and
not only that, but a man who would accomplish the
errand on which he was sent or die in the attempt.
This was to be no mere well-regulated expedition, that
was to turn back when all reasonable efforts had been
made. It was one that, if desperate straits should come,
would resort to desperate means, and he knew that with
Stanley at its head this would be done. He knew that
Stanley would fetch out Livingstone, dead or alive, or
leave his bones to bleach in the wilds of Africa. The
latter was comparatively young, it was true ; had
always accompanied, never led, expeditious. He knew
nothing of Africa, how an expedition should be organiz-
ed or furnished ; it mattered not. Bennett knew he had
resources within himself — nerves that never flinch,
courage that no amount of danger could daunt, a will
that neither an African fever nor a wasted form could
break down, and a resolution of purpose that the pre-
sence of death itself could not shake, while, to complete
all, he had a quickness and accuracy of judgment in a
perilous crisis, followed by equally quick and right
action, which would extricate him out of difficulties that
would overwhelm men who had all his courage, will and
energy, but were slower in coming to a decision. This
latter quality is one of the rarest fcver found even in the
strongest men; to think quick and yet think right; to
come to a right decision as if by impulse, is a power few
men possess. To go swift and yet straight as* the can-
30 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
non ball or lightning's flash, gives to every man's actions
tenfold power. In this lay the great secret of Napo-
leon's success. The campaigns were started, while those
of others were under discussion, and the thunder and
tumult of battle cleared his perceptions and judgment
so that no unexpected disaster could occur that he was
not ready to meet. This quickness and accuracy of
thought and action is one of the prominent character-
istics of Stanley, and more than once saved his life and
his expedition.
On the 16th day of October, 1869, as he was sitting in
his hotel at Madrid, having just returned from the car-
nage of Valencia, a telegram was handed him. The
thunder of cannon and tumult of battle had scarce ceased
echoing in his ear when this telegram startled him from
his reverie, " Come to Paris on important business." In
a moment all was hurry and confusion, his books and
pictures were packed, his washed and unwashed clothes
were stowed away, and in two hours his trunks were
strapped and labeled "Paris." The train started at 3
o'clock, and he still had some time to say good-bye to
his friends, and here by mere accident comes out one of
the most pleasing traits of his character. Of the friends
he is thus to leave, he merely refers to those of the
American legation, but dwells with regret on the fare-
well he must give to two little children, whom he calls
his "fast friends." Like a sudden burst of sunlight on a
landscape, this unconscious utterance reveals a heart as
tender as it is strong, and increases our interest in the
man quite as much as in the explorer. At 3 o'clock he
was thundering on toward Paris ready, as he said, to go
to the batile or the banquet, all the same. His interview
with Mr. Bennett reveals the character of both these
men so clearly that we give it in Stanley's own words :
" At 3 p.m. I was on my way, and being obliged to
stop at Bayonne a few hours, did not arrive at Paris
until the following night. I went straight to the
' Grand Hotel,' and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett's
room.
FIND LIVINGSTONE. 31
" 'Come in,' I heard a voice say. Entering, I found
Mr. Bennett in bed.
"'Who are you ?' he asked.
"'My name is Stanley,' I answered.
"'Ah, yes, sit down; I have important business on
hand for you.'
" After throwing over his shoulders his robe de chambre,
Mr. Bennett asked : ' Where do you think Livingstone
is?'
" ' I really do not know, sir.'
" 'Do you think he is alive ?'
" 'He may be, and he may not be,' I answered.
" 'Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found,
and I am going to send you to find him.'
"'What,' said I, 'do you really think I can find Dr.
Livingstone ? Do you mean me to go to Central
Africa?'
" 'Yes ? I mean that you shall go and find him,
wherever you hear that he is, and get what news you
can of him ; and, perhaps ' — delivering himself thought-
fully and deliberately — ' the old man may be in want.
Take enough with you to help him, should he require it.
Of course, you will act according to your own plans, and
you will do what is 'best — BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE ! '
" Said I, wondering at the cool order of sending one
to central Africa to search for a man whom I, in com-
mon with most other men, believed to be dead : ' Have
you considered seriously the great expense you are liable
to incur on accouut of this little journey ?'
" 'What will it cost ?' he asked, abruptly.
"'Burton and Speke's journey to Central Africa cost
between £3,000 and £5,000, and I fear it cannot be done
under £2,500.'
" 'Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a
thousand pounds now, and when you have gone through
that, draw another thousand, and when that is spent
draw another thousand, and when you have finished
that draw another thousand and so on — but FIND
LIVINGSTONE !'
32 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
" Surprised, but not confused, at the order, for I knew
that Mr. Bennett, when he had once made up his mind,
was not easily drawn aside from his purpose, I yet
thought, seeing it was such a gigantic scheme, that he
had not quite considered in his own mind the pros and
cons of the case, I said : ' I have heard that should your
father die you would sell the Herald, and retire from
business.'
"'Whoever told you so is wrong, for there is not
money enough in the United States to buy the New
York Herald. My father has made it a great paper,
but I mean to make it a greater. I mean, that it shall
be a newspaper in the true sense of the word; I mean,
that it shall publish whatever news may be useful to the
world, at no matter what cost.'
" 'After that,' said I, ' I have nothing more to say. Do
you mean me to go straight on to Africa to search for
Dr. Livingstone ?'
"'No; I wish you to go to the inauguration of the
Suez Canal first, and then proceed up the Nile. I hear
Baker is about starting for Upper Egypt. Find out
what you can about his expedition, and, as you go up,
describe, as well as possible, whatever is interesting for
tourists, and then write up a guide— a practical one —
for Lower Egypt ; tell us about what is worth seeing,
and how to see it.
" 'Then you might as well go to Jerusalem; I hear
that Captain Warren is making some interesting dis-
coveries there. Then visit Constantinople, and find out
about the khedive and the sultan.
"'Then — let me see — you might as well visit the
Crimea and those old battle-grounds. Then go across
the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea. I hear there is a
Russian expedition bound for Khiva. From thence yon
may get through Per sia to India ; you could write an
interesting letter from Persepolis.
" 'Bagdad will be close on your way to India ; suppose
you go there and write up something about the Eu-
phrates Valley Railway. Then, when you have come to
A FALSE CHARGE. 33
India, you may go after Dr. Livingstone. Probably you
will hear by that time that Livingstone is on his way to
Zanzibar ; but, if not, go into the interior and find him,
if alive. Get what news of his discovery you can ; and
if you find that he is dead, bring all possible proofs you
can of his being dead. That is all. Good-night, and
God be with you.'
'" Good-night, sir,' I said, 'what is in the power of
human nature I will do; and on such an errand as I go
upon God will be with me.'
" I lodged with young Edward King, who is making
such a name in New England. He was just the man
who would have delighted to tell the journal he was
engaged upon what young Mr. Bennett was doing, and
what errand I was bound upon. I should have liked to
exhange opinions with him upon the probable results
of my journey, but dared not do so. Though oppressed
with the great task before me, I had to appear as if only
going to be present at the Suez Canal. Young King
followed me to the express train bound for Marseilles,
and at the station we parted — he to go and read the
newspapers at Bowles's Reading-room, I to Central
Africa and — who knows ? There is no need to recapitu-
late what I did before going to Central Africa."
He started on his travels, and we hear of him first in
Constantinople, from our minister there, Mr. Morris, who
had relieved him and his companions when plundered
by Turkish brigands. One of Mr. Stanley's traveling
companions who had been robbed with himself, accused
him of dishonesty in a published letter regarding the
money our minister had advanced. It is not necessary
to go into this accusation or a refutation of it now, it is
sufficient to say that Mr. Morris declared the whole
charge false, and as the shortest and most complete refu-
tation of such a charge, we give Mr. Morris's own views
of Mr. Stanley :
"The uncouth young man whom I first knew had
grown into a perfect man of the world, possessing the
appearance, the manners and the attributes of a perfect
34 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
gentleman. The story of the adventures which he had
gone through and the dangers he had passed during his
absence, were perfectly marvelous, and he became the
lion of our little circle. Scarcely a day passed but he
was a guest at my table, and no one was more welcome,
for I insensibly grew to have a strong attachment for
him myself." In speaking further on of his projected
travels, he said he advised him to go to Persia, which
Stanley suddenly came to the conclusion to follow out.
" He therefore," he says, " busied himself in procuring
letters of introduction to the Russian authorities in
Caucasus, in Georgia and in other countries through
which he would have to pass."
This is quite enough to put to rest the scandal, that at
one time produced quite a sensation, that Stanley had
cheated him and misappropriated the funds advanced by
him. No explanations are required after this indorse-
ment by Mr. Moms himself.
Of this long and hazardous journey, the columns of
the Herald gave all the principal details. There is no-
thing in them that illustrates the peculiar characteris-
tics of Stanley any more or even so much as his subse-
quent acts, hence his brief summary of this tour, that
seems to have had no definite object whatever, except to
give the correspondent of the Herald something to do,
until the proper moment to start on the expedition for
Livingstone, is, perhaps, the best account that could be
given, so far as the general reader is concerned. All we
can say is, it seems a very roundabout way in which to
commence such an expedition.
" I went up the Nile and saw Mr. Higginbotham,
chief engineer in Baker's expedition, at Philie, and was
the means of preventing a duel between him and a mad
young Frenchman, who wanted to fight Mr. Higgin-
botham with pistols, because Mr. Higginbotham resented
the idea of being taken for an Egyptian through wearing
a fez cap. I had a talk with Captain Warren at Jerusa-
lem, and descended one of the pits with a Serjeant of
engineers to see the marks of Tyrian workmen on the
A WELCOME EVERYWHERE. 35
foundation-stones of the Temple of Solomon. I visited
the mosques of Stamboul with the minister resident of
the United States, and the American consul general. I
travelled over the Crimean battle-grounds with King-
lake's glorious books for reference. I dined with the
widow of General Liprandi, at Odessa. I saw the Ara-
bian traveler, Palgrave, at Trebizond, and Baron Nicolay,
the civil governor of the Caucasus, at Tiflis. I lived
with the Russian embassador while at Teheran, and
wherever I went through Persia I received the most
hospitable welcome from the gentlemen of the Indo-
European Telegraph Company; and following the ex-
ample of many illustrious men, I wrote my name upon
one of the Persepolitan monuments. In the month of
August, 1870, I arrived in India."
In completing this sketch of Mr. Stanley's character,
it is only necessary to add that his after career fully
justified the high estimate Mr. Bennett placed on his ex-
traordinary qualities. These were tested to their utmost
extent in his persistent, determined search after the man
he was sent to find. But we believe that Livingstone,
when found, with whom Stanley passed some months,
exerted a powerful influence on the character which we
have attempted to portray. Stanley was comparatively
young, full of life and ambition, with fame, greater
probably than he had ever anticipated, now within his
reach. Yet, here in the heart of Africa, he found a man
well on in years, of a world-wide fame, yet apparently
indifferent to it. This man who had spent his life in a
savage country, away from home and all the pleasures
of civilized society, who expected to pass the remnant of
his days in the .same isolated state, was looking beyond
this life. He was forgetting himself, in the absorbing
purpose to benefit others. Fame to him was nothing,
the welfare of a benighted race everything. This was a
new revelation to the ambitious young man. Hitherto
he had thought only of himself, but here was a man,
earnest, thoughtful, sincere, who was living to carry out
a great idea — no less than the salvation of a continent —
36 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
nay more than this, who was working not for himself,
but for a Master, and that Master, the God of the
universe. He remained with him in close companion-
ship for months, and intimate relations with a man
borne up by such a lofty purpose, inspired by such
noble feelings, and looking so far away beyond time for
his reward, could not but have an important influence
on a man with Stanley's noble and heroic qualities. It
was a new revelation to him. He had met, not a success-
ful, bold explorer, but a Christian, impelled and sustain-
ed by the great and noble idea of regenerating a race
and honoring the God of man and the earth. We say
such a lengthened companionship of a man of this char-
acter could not but lift him on to a higher plane, and in-
spire him with a loftier purpose than that of a mere ex-
plorer.
But while this expedition brought out all the peculiar
traits we have spoken of, his last expedition developed
qualities which circumstances as yet, had not yet ex-
hibited. When he emerged on the Atlantic coast with
his company he was hailed with acclamations, and a
British vessel was placed at his disposal in which to re-
turn home. But the ease and comfort offered him, and
the applause awaiting him were nothing compared with
the comfort and welcome of the savage band that had
for so long a time been his companions and his only re-
liance in the perils through which he had passed. True,
they had often been intractable, disobedient and trust-
less, but still they had been his companions in one of the
most perilous marches ever attempted by man, and with
that large charity that allowed for the conduct of these
untutored, selfish animals of the desert, he forgot it all,
and would do nothing, think of nothing, till their wants
were supplied and their welfare secured. He would see
them safe back to the spot from which he took them,
and did, before he took care of himself. A noble nature
there asserted itself, and we doubt not that every one of
those ignorant, poor savages would go to the death for
that brave man to whom their own welfare was so dear.
MANTLE OF LIVINGSTONE MAY FALL UPON STANLEY. 37
From this brief sketch of Mr. Stanley's career and
character, one might, without presumption, predict that
what he had done for Africa, great as it is, may be only
the beginning of what he proposes to do.
The mantle of Livingstone may fall upon his shoulders,
and the ambition of the explorer give way to the higher
impulse of redeeming this benighted country, and these
two names become as closely linked with the civilized,
Christianized Africa of the future, as that of Columbus
with America. Having laid open to the world the great
work to be done there, let us hope he will be the great
leader in performing it.
CHAPTER II.
The Dark Continent " — Description of it — Difficulties of Exploring it
— Hatred of White Men — The First Real Encroachment made by a
Missionary — Description of the Portion to be Explored — Its Articles
of Commerce — Its Future Destiny.
ALL there was of civilization in the world was found
at one time in Africa. Art and science had their
home there, while now it is the most benighted and bar-
barous portion of the earth and is, not inaptly, called
" the dark continent." With a breadth at the equator of
four thousand five hundred miles, with the exception of
thin lines of sea-coast on each side, this vast space was
as much unknown as the surface of a distant planet.
The Barbary States and Egypt, on the Mediterranean
and Red Seas, some Portuguese settlements on the Indian
Ocean, the English and Dutch colonies of South Africa,
a few trading ports and the English and American colo-
nies in Guinea, constituted Africa, so far as the know-
ledge of the civilized world went. And yet beyond these
outer rims lay real Africa, and there lived -its vast
4
38 EXPLORATIONS TN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
population. That it was fertile was well-known, for out
of its mysterious bosom flowed magnificent rivers, the
Congo being ten miles wide at its mouth. That it con-
tained a mighty population was equally apparent, for in
two centuries it yielded forty millions of slaves, which
were distributed over the world. Slave hunters here
and there pierced a little way into this unknown region,
and faint echoes came now and then out of this vast
solitude, but they were echoes only, and Africa rested
amid the continents a mystery and a riddle that seemed
likely never to be solved. The vast Desert of Sahara on
the north, stretching down to the equator, presented an
impenetrable barrier to explorers entering from that
direction, while along the eastern and western coasts
they were beaten back by savage tribes or fell victims
to the diseases of the country. Matted forests, wild
beasts and venomous reptiles were added to the other
obstacles that beset their path, so that only now and
then an adventurous explorer got beyond the outer rim
of the continent.
The Nile, piercing to the equator, seemed the most
natural avenue by which to enter this region, but the
slave hunters by their cruelty, and the petty wars they
had engendered among the various tribes, made the pres-
ence of a white man in their midst the occasion of hostile
demonstrations. The lofty mountains and broad rivers
that came out of this vast unknown region added to the
mysterious interest that enveloped it. Though certain
death awaited the daring traveler who endeavored to
penetrate far into the interior, fresh victims were found
ready to peril their lives in the effort to solve the mys-
tery of Central Africa. The path of these travelers,
when traced on the map, appears like mere punctures of
the great continent. Missionary effort could only effect
a lodgment along the coast, while colonies remained sta-
tionary on the spot where they were first planted.
Although holding the entire southern portion, the
English colony could make but little headway against
the tribes that confronted them on the north. The most
AN EFFECTUAL BAR TO ENTERPRISE. 39
adventurous men urged not by curiosity or desire of
knowledge, but cupidity, penetrated the farthest into
the interior, but, instead of throwing light on those dark
places, they made them seem more dark and terrible by
the miserable naked and half-starved wretches they
brought out to civilization, to become more wretched
still by the life of slavery to which they were doomed.
Hence it could not be otherwise than that the name
of white man should be associated with everything re-
volting and cruel, and that his presence among these
wild barbarians should awaken feelings of vengeance.
A white man, to those inland tribes, represented wrong
and cruelty alone. The very word meant separation of
wives, and husbands, and families, and carried away to a
doom whose mystery only enhanced the actual horrors
that really awaited them. Hence the white man's rapa-
city and cruelty put an effectual bar to his curiosity and
enterprise. The love of knowledge and physical science
was thwarted by the love of sin and wrong, and the
civilized world, instead of wondering at the ignorance
and barbarity that kept back all research and all benevo-
lent effort, should wonder that any one bearing the
slightest relationship to the so-called outside civilized
world, should have been allowed to exist for a day where
these wronged, outraged savages bore sway.
It is singular that the first real encroachment on these
forbidden regions was not made by daring explorers
either for adventure or geographical knowledge, or to
extend commerce, but by a poor missionary, whose sole
object was to get the Gospel introduced among these un-
counted millions of heathen. Livingstone broke the
spell that hung over tropical Africa, and set on foot
movements that are to work a change in the continent
more important and momentous than the imagination of
man can at present conceive.
But, before entering on the explorations of the last
thirty years, which are destined to work such a change
in the future history of Africa, we wish to give a clear,
definite idea of the region embraced in these explora-
40 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
tions, and which is yet but partially unveiled, and on
the development and management of which the future
of Africa turns. The names used by these explorers are
not, for the most part, found on our maps, and hence the
reader is left very much in the dark respecting the terri-
tory over which he is carried by the explorer. We en-
deavored, a little farther back, to give a general idea of
the map of Africa, as showing its partially civilized and
barbarous portions, as well as the known and unknown
parts of the continent. We will not give the more
scientific divisions, but would say that it is the more
tropical regions of Africa that give birth to its largest
rivers — is covered by its most magnificent forests — is
crossed by its loftiest mountains, and where dwell its
teeming millions. And this is the unknown part of the
continent and the central point toward which all ex-
plorers press.
This tropical Africa extends from about ten degress
above to ten degrees below the equator, and from ten to
thirty-five east longitude, or in round numbers, nearly a
thousand miles above and below the equator, or two
thousand or more east and west between these parallels
of latitudes. With an ordinary map before him, and
with Zanzibar on the east and Congo on the west, as
great landmarks, the reader will get a very clear idea of
the ground aimed at and touched, or pierced and crossed
by recent explorers, and the thorough final exploration
of which will unlock not only the hidden mystery of
Africa, but open all there is of interest to both the
Christian and commercial world. That to the former
there is a field to be occupied that will tax the self-
sacrifice and benevolence of the Christian world, there
can be no doubt ; while to the commercial world a field
of equal magnitude and importance will be laid open.
From the mere punctures into the borders of this un-
known land, and the two slight trails recently made
across it, there is no doubt that from sixty to one
hundred millions of men are here living in the lowest
and most degraded condition of heathenism, while the
A NEW ROUTE DISCOVERED. 41
country is burdened with those articles which the com-
mercial world needs, and can make of vast benefit to
man.
A glance at the map will reveal what a vast territory
remains to be explored and what a mighty population
exists there, and yet to come into contact with the civil-
ized worJd. It is probable that that unexplored region
between the equator and the great Desert of Sahara will
reveal greater wonders than have yet been discovered.
Previous to Livingstone, most of the expeditions hav-
ing Central Africa for their objective point, made the
Nile their guide. Mungo 3 'ark went up the Niger, on
the west coast, in the beginning of the present century,
and some twenty years later Denham and Clapperton
started from Tripoli and, crossing the Great Desert,
reached Lake Tschad, nearly a thousand miles north of
the equator, and worked west to the Niger, and so to the
coast of Guinea. Other explorers have visited this
region, comprising the central part of Northern Africa,
but the equatorial region was sought by following up
the Nile. The western coast had been the scene of so
much cruelty by slave traders, that the powerful tribes
in the interior were so hostile to white men that they
would not allow them to enter their country. It was
left to Dr. Livingstone to discover a new route to tropi-
cal Africa and make an entering wedge that is likely to
force open the whole country.
What little has been traversed reveals untold wealth
waiting the enterprising hand of commerce to bring forth
to civilization. A partial list of the products of this
rich country will show what a mine of wealth it is
destined to be : sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, oil palm,
tobacco, spices, timber, rice, wheat, Indian corn, India
rubber, copal, hemp, ivory, iron, copper, silver, gold and
various other articles of commerce are found here, and
some of them in the greatest profusion.
Thus it will be seen that this vast continent, which
from creation seemed destined only to be the abode of
wild beasts and reptiles, and man as wild and savage as
42 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the animals amid which he dwelt, and when brought
into contact with civilization to become more debased,
if possible, by the bondage in which he was kept, con-
tains almost everything that civilization needs, and in
the future, which now seems near, will be traversed by
railroads and steamboats, and the solitudes that have
echoed for thousands of years to the howl of wild beasts,
and yells of equally wild men, will resound with the
hum of peaceful industry and the rush and roar of com-
merce. The miserable hut will give way to commodious
habitations, and the disgusting rites of heathenism to
the worship of the true God. Reaching to the temper-
ate zones, north and south, it presents every variety of
climate and yields every variety of vegetation. What
effect the great revolution awaiting this continent will
have on the destiny of the world, none can tell. But he
would be considered a mad prophet who would predict
one-half of the changes that the discovery of the Ameri-
can continent, less than four hundred years ago, has
wrought. That the Creator of these continents of the
earth had some design in letting this, nearly, fourth part
of our planet remain in darkness and mystery and
savage debasement till now, and then, by the effort of
one poor missionary, cause it to be thrown open to the
world, none can doubt.
HIPPOPOTAMI AT HOME.
DK. DAVID I.IYIXCSTONK.
CHAPTER III.
Outlines of Livingstone's Explorations During a Period of nearly Thirty
Years — First Exploration — Crosses the Continent from West to
East — His Second Expedition — The Last — His Supposed Death —
Sympathy for Him — Indifference of the British Government to his
Fate — Bennett's bold Resolution to send Stanley after him.
WE do not design to give an account of the many
explorations of Africa, from Mungo Park down,
which have been made to gratify curiosity, or the spirit
of adventure, or for fame, or even in the interest of
science, or to increase our geographical knowledge, but
confine ourselves to those only which have had for their
great end the destruction of the slave trade and the re-
generation of Africa. As Livingstone originated this
philanthropic spirit, and lifted the expeditions to explore
Central Africa to a higher plane than they had ever
before occupied, till finally they became national, and
hence have assumed an importance they never before
possessed, it is not only proper but necessary to a full
understanding of these explorations, that a brief account
or outline of his Herculean labors should be given.
He was born in 1815, so that if alive now he would be
near his threescore and ten. Educated as a physician
and designing, originally, to make this profession an
entering wedge to his career as a missionary in China,
he having changed his purpose, embarked at the age of
twenty-five as a missionary to South Africa, intending
to spend his life among the wild tribes that bordered on
the English settlements there. This very simple and by
no means extraordinary step fixed his destiny, and, to
all human appearances, has changed the destiny of
Africa ; and though he is dead, the movement he started
will go on widening and deepening, controlling the fate
of millions, till time shall end. He located himself
44 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
among a tribe in the Baknona country, over which a
noted and able chieftain named Sechele ruled with arbi-
trary power. For nine years he labored and explored
in this section of the country, learning the various dia-
lects and customs and manners of the people, and thus
preparing himself unconsciously for the greater work
before him.
Nine years after, he went to Cape Town, and entered
on his missionary labors. It must be borne in mind
that, though at this time, the tribes that Livingstone
visited and dwelt among were strangers to white men,
yet they had little of the hatred of the stranger that
characterized the tribes of Central Africa. They had
never been so heavily cursed by the slave hunter or
trader, and hence had less occasion for animosity and
suspicion. The missionary, with his wife and children,
trusted themselves fearlessly to the generosity of these
savage chiefs, many of whom in intelligence, sagacity
and magnanimity, resembled Red Jacket, Tecumseh and
others among our Indian tribes. They were received
with distinguished hospitality and treated with royal
generosity.
About this time his explorations of the African conti-
nent began. Two travelers having arrived at his station,
he started with them to visit Lake Ngami, a sheet of
water between one and two hundred miles in circumfer-
ence, that had never before been visited by a white man.
They set out on the 1st of June, and arrived on its
solitary shores on the 1st of August, having been two
months on the route, and everywhere treated with
kindness. His chief object in visiting the lake was to
see a great chief, Sekeletu, who was said to live some
hundred and fifty miles beyond it. Livingstone was
received and entertained by him cordially. Con-
sulting with this able and generous chief, Livingstone
determined to push west to the coast, and in November,
1853, the two, with quite a train and numerous guides, set
out, and, thanks to the precautions and orders of
Sekeletu, were received by the various tribes through
IN SIGHT OF INONGO. 45
which they passed with great hospitality. For three
months he toiled onward across rivers and through
swamps, his only companions being wild barbarians,
who, notwithstanding their idolatrous worship and
heathenish rites, treated this solitary white man, who
had put himself completely in their power, as an honor-
ed guest, The Inongo Valley, on which he now entered,
was under the sway of the Portuguese, though several
hundred miles from the Atlantic. The scenery through
which he had passed had been tame and uninteresting,
with nothing to alleviate the monotony of the way but
the curious customs and wild antics of the savages
through whose territory he passed. But he was filled
with rapture when he came in sight of Inongo, lying in
a beautiful valley below him. He thus describes it :
" It is about one hundred miles broad, clothed with
dark forest, except where the light green grass covers
meadow-lands on the Inongo River, which here and
there glances in the sun as it wends its way to the north.
The opposite side of this great valley appears like a
range of lofty mountains, and the descent into it about
a mile, which, measured perpendicularly, may be from
one thousand to twelve hundred feet. Emerging from
the gloomy forest of Loanda, this magnificent prospect
made us all feel as if a weight had been lifted from our
eyelids. A cloud was passing across the middle of the
valley, from which rolling thunder pealed, while above
all was glorious sunlight. It was one of those scenes
which, from its unexpectedness and great contrast to all
that has gone before, makes it seem more like a vision
than a reality, and one wonders that so mutih beauty
and loveliness was created only for wild beasts or wilder
men to gaze upon."
He reached Loanda in April, having made the journey
to the coast from the Mokololo district in four months.
He now took the bold determination to cross the conti-
nent, from west to east. It must be remembered that
this daring expedition was undertaken nearly a quarter
of a century ago, without the companionship of a single
46 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
white man. It is true, he crossed the southern portion
of Africa, yet he started some two hundred miles north
of where Cameron recently came out. Instead of work-
ing northerly, his course lay somewhat to the south-
east. For a year he was now locked up in these un-
known wilds, and reaching the water-shed of the
continent, he discovered the Zambezi, in the heart of
Africa, and traced it down to its mouth. The results of
this remarkable expedition have been long given to the
world. But it will be seen at a glance that this formed,
as it were, a base line for all his future explorations,
and gave that impetus to explorations of the continent
which are fast laying it open to the civilized world.
This brief summary gives a very inadequate idea of
Mr. Livingstone's labors in Africa up to this time. He
had now been sixteen years among its wild tribes,
acting as missionary, statesman and scientific explorer.
He had wrought marvelous changes among them, and
started them forward toward civilization.
He now returned to England, reaching there on the
12th of December, where the story of his wonderful
career was received with great admiration by people of
every class. He published an extended account of his
work and explorations in Africa, which was warmly
received on both sides of the Atlantic.
Having fairly launched his book in the world, he now
determined to return to Africa, but not, as before, alone.
He did not go out as a missionary, but as consul to
Killimane, with the understanding that his duties were
in no wayvto conflict with his explorations. We do not
design to give an account of the second expedition, which,
among other things, before it ended, shed new light on
the sources of the Nile and the waters that flow east
into the Indian Ocean.
He left in 1858, and was gone some four years. He
then returned to England. In the meantime, stimulated
by his success and fame, sevei^al expeditions started up
the Nile, by which the vast lake, or, as it might be
termed, inland sea system around and beyond the head
THE ENGLISH PEOPLE AROUSED. 47
waters of the Nile was brought to light, as well as all
the diabolical cruelties of the slave trade, which was
carried on by Egypt and the Portuguese settlements on
the east coast of Africa. Livingstone, by his vivid des-
criptions of its horrors, and loud and righteous outcry
against it, had aroused the English people, and created
such a public sentiment that the English government
felt compelled to move in the matter; so that while
Livingstone was preparing for a third expedition, or
rather continuing this last, which had only been inter-
mitted (for his researches up the Zambezi and Raverna
Rivers were preparatory to his great undertaking to ex-
plore the sources of the Nile and the great lake region,
near which he was to die), a movement was on foot to
suppress the slave trade in Africa. England and the
United States having declared it piracy, and kept their
cruisers on the west cpast of Africa, had effectually
suppressed it there. If, therefore, it could be suppressed
by way of Egypt, the Portuguese settlements alone on
the east coast could carry it on, and hence its doom be
sealed, and this curse of centuries to Africa be ended.
There was but one way to do this, to enlist the sympa-
thies, or at least secure the co-operation of the khedive
of Egypt in the great undertaking. No matter whether
his claims were founded in justice or not, no one had a
better one to the vast unknown regions of tropical Africa
than he. Certainly no one had the power to enforce
that claim as well as he.
The khedive is the most intelligent ruler that Egypt
ever had, of liberal principles, and in sympathy with
all the great improvements going on in the civilized
world. Though the plan was obnoxious to a great por-
tion of his subjects who lived by the slave trade, he at
once entered into it and agreed to stop, with her assist-
ance, the traffic in human beings throughout his king-
dom. Livingstone at the time was not where he could
hear of this first great result of his exposure of the
iniquities of the slave trade in Africa. He was swal-
lowed up in the wilds of that continent; in fact, was by
48 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
most men supposed to be dead, and his body moulder-
ing, unburied, on the field of his last great exploration.
He had been three years absent from England. Deter-
THE KHEDIYE OF EGYPT.
mined to explore the great water-shed of Central
Africa, he had sailed for Zanzibar in August, 1865, and
thence, in March of the next year, with a small band,
composed of Sepoys and others, left that island, and in
the last of the month strjick inland, proceeding by the
River Rohenna, He was heard from, from time to
time, until at last the leader of his Johanna men, arrived
at Zanzibar and reported that he had been killed almost
at the outset of his journey. The particulars of his
death were related with great minuteness of detail —
how the fight commenced, and that after Livingstone
LIVINGSTONE REPORTED DEAD. 49
had shot two of the natives, he was struck from behind
and shot dead. The news was received with feelings of
gloom and sorrow throughout the civilized world. This
brave, true-hearted Christian man, whom all the native
chiefs who knew him had learned to love, had at last
fallen by the hand of those he came to benefit. • But at
length there came letters from him, dated far in advance
of the place where it is said he was murdered. Time
passed on, and at long intervals faint echoes came out
of the African solitudes, of a white man toiling all alone
in those desolate regions. At length came another re-
port that the news ol Livingstone's previous death was
false, for he had recently been killed. But the former
false rumor caused this to be discredited, and sympathy
was again aroused for this undaunted solitary English-
man, and wonder was expressed that his government
would do nothing to relieve him. At length, Mr.
Bennett, of the Herald, determined, at his own expense,
to find this daring explorer if he was alive, and if dead,
bring his bones out to hisfriends. He fitted out,as we have
seen, an expedition at the cost of $25,000, and placed
Stanley at its head, second only to Livingstone for dar-
ing, perseverance, and indomitable will. At first he
inclined to ascend the Nile and push forward in the
direction toward which it was known that Livingstone
had determined to push his researches, but finding that
Baker was to move in that direction, he at last decided
to proceed to Zanzibar, and taking the direction in
which Livingstone had gone, three years before, follow
him up till he found him or the spot where he died, or
was killed.*
"The full Life-History of Livingstone and bis Explorations may be
had of the Publishers of this volume, in one large 8vo volume of 800
pages, beautifully illustrated, price $3.50. Will be sent to any address
post-paid on receipt of price.
CHAPTER IV.
Stanley's Search for Livingstone — Lands at Zanzibar — Organizes his
Expedition — The Start — Stanley's Feelings — The March — Its Diffi-
culties— Men Sick — Delays — Meeting with a Chief — Dialogue on
the Burial of a Horse — Loss of his Bay Horse — Sickness and Deser-
tion— Terrible Travelling — A Hospitable Chief — A Gang of Slaves —
African Belles — A Ludicrous Spectacle — A Queer Superstition —
Punishment of a Deserter — A Ludicrous Contrast — A Beautiful
Country — News from Livingstone — A Walled Town — Stanley at-
tacked with Fever.
WE have seen in a former chapter how suddenly
Mr. Stanley was recalled from Spain, to take
charge of an expedition to go in search of Livingstone —
how he was sent to see Baker, who was about to go in
toward him from the north, and how he was sent east
first. But the time came at last to enter upon his work
in earnest, and he sailed from Bombay, on the 12th of
October, for Zanzibar.
On board the barque was a Scotchman, named Far-
quhar, acting as first mate. Taking a fancy to him, he
was engaged to accompany him on his expedition to
find Livingstone.
Nearly three months later, on the 6th of January, he
landed at Zanzibar, one of the most fruitful islands of
the Indian Ocean, rejoicing in a sultan of its own. It
is the great mart to which come the ivory, gum, copal,
hides, etc., and the slaves of the interior. Stanley im-
mediately set about preparing for his expedition. The
first thing to decide upon, was :
"How much money is required? How many pigeons
as carriers ? How many soldiers ? How much cloth ?
How many beads ? How much wire ? What kinds of
cloth is required for the different tribes ? "
After trying to figure this out by himself, from the
books of other travellers, he decided to consult an Arab
GOODS THE ONLY COIN. 51
merchant, who had fitted out several caravans for the
interior. In a very short time he obtained more infor-
mation than he had acquired from books in his long
three months' voyage from India.
Money is of no use in the heart of Africa. Goods of
various kinds are the only coin that can purchase what
the traveller needs, or pay the tribute that is exacted by
the various tribes. He found that forty yards of cloth
would keep one hundred men supplied with food per
day. Thus, three thousand six hundred and fifty yards
of three different kinds of cloths would support one
hundred men twelve months. Next to cloths, beads
were the best currency of the interior. Of these he pur-
chased twenty sacks of eleven varieties in color and
shape. Next came the brass wire, of which he pur-
chased three hundred and fifty pounds, of about the
thickness of telegraph wire. Next came the provisions
and outfit of implements that would be needed — medi-
cines and arms, and donkeys, and, last of all, men.
A man by the name of Shaw, a native of England,
who came there as third mate of an American ship, from
which he was discharged, applied for work, and was
engaged by Stanley in getting what he needed together,
and to accompany him on his expedition. He agreed
to give him $300 per annum, and placed him next in
rank to Farquhar. He then cast about for an escort of
of twenty men. Five who had accompanied Speke, and
were called "Speke's Faithfuls," among whom, as a
leader, was a man named Bombay, were first engaged.
He soon got together eighteen more men, as soldiers,
who were to receive $3 a month. Each was to have a
flint-lock musket, and be provided with two hundred
rounds of ammunition. Bombay was to receive $80 a
year, and the other five faithfuls $40.
Knowing that he was to enter, and, perhaps, cross a
region of vast inland lakes, much delay and travel might
be avoided by a large boat, and so he purchased one and
stripped it of all its covering, to make the transpor-
tation easier. He also had a cart constructed to
52 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
fit the goat-paths of the interior and to aid in trans-
portation.
When all his purchases were completed and collected
together, he found that the combined weight would be
about six tons. His cart and twenty donkeys would not
suffice for this, and so, the last thing of all, was to pro-
cure carriers, or pagosi, as they were called. He hiinsdf
was presented with a blooded hay horse, by an American
merchant, at Zanzibar, named Gordhue, formerly of
Salem, Mass.
On the 4th of February, or twenty-eight days from
his arrival at Zanzibar, Mr. Stanley's equipment was
completed, and he set sail for Bagomayo, twenty-five
miles distant on the mainland — from which all the cara-
vans started for the interior, and where he was to hire
his one hundred and forty or more pogasis or carriers.
He was immediately surrounded with men who attempt-
ed in every way to fleece him, and he was harassed,
and betrayed, and hindered on every side. But, at
length, all difficulties were overcome — the goods packed
in bales weighing seventy-two pounds — the force divided
into five caravans, and in six weeks after he entered
Bagomayo he was ready to start. The first caravan had
departed February 18th; the second, February 21st;
the third, February 25th; the fourth, on March llth,
and the last on March 21st. All told, the number com-
prised, in all the caravans connected with the " Herald
Expedition," was one hundred and ninety.
It was just seventy-three days after Stanley landed
at Zanzibar, that he passed out of Bagomayo, with his
last caravan, on his bay horse, accompanied by twenty-
eight carriers and twelve soldiers, under Bombay, while
his Arab boy, Selim, the interpreter, had charge of the
cart and its load.
Out through a narrow lane, shaded by trees, they
passed, the American flag flying in front, and all in the
highest spirits. Stanley had left behind him the quar-
reling, cheating Arabs, and all his troubles with them.
The sun speeding to the west, was beckoning him on ;
STARTING IN HIGH SPIRITS. 53
his heart beat high with hope and ambition ; he had
taken a new departure in life, and with success would
come the renown he so ardently desired. He says,
" loveliness glowed around me ; I saw fertile fields, riant
vegetation, strange trees ; I heard the cry of cricket and
pewit, and jubilant sounds of many insects, all of which
seemed to tell me, ' you are started.' What could I do
but lift up my face toward the pure, glowing sky, and
cry, ' God be thanked ? ' '
The first camp was three miles and a half distant.
The next three days were employed in completing the
preparations for the long land journey and for meeting
the Masike, now very near, and on the 4th, a start was
made for Unyanyembe, the great half-way house, which
he resolved to reach in three months.
The road was a mere foot-path, leading through fields
in which naked women were at work, who looked up
and laughed and giggled as they passed. Passing on,
they entered an open forest, abounding in deer and
antelope. Reaching the turbid Kingemi, a bridge of
felled trees was soon made ; Stanley, in the meantime
amusing himself with shooting hippopotami, or rather
shooting at them, for his small bullets made no more
impression on their thick skulls than peas would have
done. Crossing to the opposite shore, he found the
traveling better. They arrived at Kikoka, a distance of
but ten miles, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, having been
compelled to unload the animals during the day, to cross
the river and mud pools. This was slow marching, and
at this rate of speed it would take a long time to reach
the heart of Africa. The settlement was a collection of
rude huts. Though bound to the same point that Speke
and Burton had reached, Ujiji, Stanley took a different
route from them, and one never traveled by a white
man before. On the 27th, he left this place and moved
westward, over a rolling, monotonous country, until
they came to Rosako, the province of Ukwee. Just be-
fore his departure the next morning, Magonga, the lead-
er of the fourth caravan, came up and told him that
5
54 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
three of his carriers were sick, and asked for some
medicine. He found the three men in great terror, be-
lieving they were about to die, and crying out like
children, " Mama, mama." Leaving them, with orders
to hurry on as soon as possible, he departed. The
country everywhere was in a state of nature except in
the neighborhood of villages. Sheltered by the dense
forests, he toiled on, but was so anxious about the fourth
caravan left behind that, after marching nine miles, he
ordered a halt and made a camp. It soon swarmed with
insects, and he set to work to examine them and see if
they were the tsetse, said to be fatal to horses in Africa.
Still waiting for the caravan, he went hunting, but soon
found himself in such an impenetrable jungle and
swamp, filled with alligators, that he resolved never to
make the attempt again. The second and third days
passing without the arrival of the caravan, he sent Shaw
and Bombay back after it, who brought it up on the
fourth day. Leaving it to rest in his own camp, he
pushed on five miles to the village of Kingaru, set in a
deep, damp, pestiferous-looking hollow, surrounded by
pools of water. To add to the gloominess of the scene,
a pouring rain set in, which soon filled their camping-
place with lakelets and rivulets of water. Toward even-
ing the rain ceased, and the villagers began to pour in
with their vendibles. Foremost was the chief, bringing
with him three measures' of matama and half a measure
of rice, which he begged Stanley to accept. The latter
saw through the trickery of this meagre present, in offer-
ing which the chief called him the "rich sultan." Stanley
asked him why, if he was a rich sultan, the chief of
Kingaru did not bring him a rich present, that he might
give him a rich one in return. " Ah," replied the blear-
eyed old fox, "Kingaru is poor, there is no matama in
the village, I can give but a yard of cloth," which v^ould
be equivalent to his present. Foiled in his sharp prac-
tice the chief had to be content with this.
On the 1st of April, he lost his gray horse. The
burial of the carcass, not far from the encampment, raised
A TERRIBLE COMMOTION. 55
a terrible commotion in the village, and the inhabitants
assembled in consultation as to how much they must
charge him for burying a horse in their village without
permission, and soon the wrinkled old chief was also at
the camp, and the following dialogue took place, which
is given as an illustration of the character of the people
with whom he was to have a year's trading intercourse :
White Man — "Are you the great chief of Kingaru ? "
Kingaru — " Huh-uh — yes."
W. M.— "The great, great chief?"
Kingaru — " Huh-uh — yes."
W. M. — How many soldiers have you ?"
Kingaru— "Why?"
W. M. — " How many fighting men have you ?"
Kingaru — " None."
W. M. — " Oh ! I thought you might have a thousand
men with you, by your going to fine a strong white man
who has plenty of guns and soldiers two doti for bury-
ing a dead horse."
Kingaru (rather perplexed) — "No; I have no soldiers.
I have only a few young men."
W. M. — " Why do you come and make trouble, then ?"
Kingaru — "It was not I; it was my brothers who
said to me, ' Come here, come here, Kingaru, see what
the white man has done ! Has he not taken possession
of your soil, in that he has put his horse into your
ground without your permission ? Come, go to him and
see by what right ! Therefore have I come to ask you
who gave you permission to use my soil for a burying-
ground ?"
W. M. — " I want no man's permission to do what is
right. My horse died ; had I left him to fester and stink
in your valley, sickness would visit your village, your
water would become unwholesome, and caravans would
not stop here for trade ; for they would say, ' This is an
unlucky spot, let us go away.' But enough said; I
understand you to say you do not want him buried in
your ground ; the error I have fallen into is easily put
right. This minute my soldiers shall dig him out again
56 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
and cover up the soil as it was before, and the horse
shall be left where he died." (Then shouting to Bom-
bay). " Ho, Bombay, take soldiers with jeinbes to dig
my horse out of the ground; drag him to where he died and
make everything ready for a march to-morrow morning."
Kingaru, his voice considerably higher and his head
moving to and fro with emotion, cries out, "Akuna,
akuna, Bana " — no, no, master. " Let not the white man
get angry. The horse is dead and now lies buried ; let
him remain so, since he is already there, and let us be
friends again."
The matter had hardly been settled, when Stanley
heard deep groans issuing from one of the animals. On
enquiry, he found that it came from the bay horse. He
took a lantern and visited him, staying all night, hoping
to save his life. It was in vain — in the morning he
died, leaving him now without any horse, which reduced
him to donkey riding. Three days passed, and the lag-
ging caravan had not come up. In the meantime, one
of his carriers deserted, while sickness attacked the camp,
and out of his twenty -five men, ten were soon on the
sick list. On the 4th, the caravan came up, and on the
following morning was dispatched forward, the leader
being spurred on with the promise of a liberal reward if
he hurried to Unyanyembe. The next morning, to
rouse his people he beat an alarm on a tin pan, and
before sunrise they were on the march, the villagers
rushing like wolves into the deserted camp to pick up
any rags or refuse left behind. The march of fifteen
miles to Imbike showed a great demoralization in his
men, many of them not coming up till nightfall. One
of the carriers had deserted on the way, taking with him
a quantity of cloth and beads. The next morning, before
starting, men were sent in pursuit of him. They made
that day, the 8th, but ten miles to Msuwa. Though the
journey was short, it was the most fatiguing one of all.
As it gives a vivid description of the difficulties experi-
enced in traveling through this country, we quote his
own language :
COMING TO GRIEF. 57
"It was one continuous jungle, except three inter-
jacent glades of narrow limits, which gave us three
breathing pauses in the dire task of jungle-traveling.
The odor emitted from its fell plants was so rank, so
pungently acrid, and the miasma from its decayed vege-
tation so dense, that I expected every moment to see
myself and men fall down in paroxysms of acute fever.
Happily this evil was not added to that of loading and
unloading the frequently falling packs. Seven soldiers
to attend seventeen laden donkeys, were entirely too
small a number while passing through a jungle ; for
while the path is but a foot wide, with a wall of thorny
plants and creepers bristling on each side, and projecting
branches darting across it, with knots of spiky twigs,
stiff as spike-nails, ready to catch and hold anything
above four feet in height, it is but reasonable to sup-
pose that donkeys, standing four feet high, with loads
measuring across, from bale to bale, four feet, would
come to grief.
" This grief was of frequent recurrence here, causing
us to pause every few minutes for re-arrangements. So
often had this task to be performed, that the men got
perfectly discouraged, and had to be spoken to sharply
before they set to work. By the time I reached Msuwa,
there was nobody with me and the ten donkeys I drove
but Mabruk, the Little, who, though generally stolid,
stood to his work like a man. Bombay and Uledi were
far behind with the most jaded donkeys. Shaw was in
charge of the cart, and his experiences were most bitter,
as he informed me he had expended a whole vocabulary
of stormy abuse known to sailors, and a new one which
he had invented ex tern/pore. He did not arrive until
two o'clock next morning, and was completely worn out.
Truly, I doubt if the most pious divine, in traveling
through that long jungle, under those circumstances,
with such oft-recurring annoyances, Sisyphean labor,
could have avoided cursing his folly for coming hither."
A halt was made here, that men and animals might
recuperate. The chief of this village was " a white man
58 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
in everything but color," and brought him the choicest
mutton. He and his subjects were intelligent enough to
comprehend the utility of his breach-loading guns, and
by their gestures illustrated their comprehension of the
deadly effects of those weapons in battle.
On the 10th, somewhat recuperated, the caravan left
this hospitable village, and crossed a beautiful little plain,
with a few cultivated fields, from which the tillers stared
in wonder at the unwonted spectacle it presented. But
here Stanley met one of those sights common in that
part of the world, but which, it is to be hoped, will soon
be seen no more. It was a chained slave gang, bound
east. He says the slaves did not appear in the least to
be down-hearted, on the contrary, they were jolly and
gay. But for the chains, there was no difference between
master and slave. The chains were heavy, but as men
and women had nothing else to carry, being entirely
naked, their weight he says could not have been insup-
portable. He camped at 10 a.m., and fired two guns, to
show they were ready to trade wi-th any of the natives
in the region. The halting place was Kisemo, only
twelve miles from Msuwa, which was the centre of a
populous district, there being no less than five villages
in the vicinity, fortified by stakes and thorny abattis, as
formidable in their way, as the old fosse and draw-
bridge of feudal times. " The belles of Kisemo," he says,
" are of gigantic posterioral proportions," and are " noted
for their variety in brass wire, which is wound in spiral
rings round their wrists and ankles, and for the varieties
of style which their hisped heads exhibit ; while their
poor lords obliged to be contented with dingy, torn
clouts and split ears, show what wide sway Asmodeus
holds over this terrestial sphere — for it must have been
an unhappy time when the hard besieged husbands gave
way before their hotly-pressing spouses. Besides these
brassy ornaments on their extremities, the women of
Kisemo frequently wear lengthy necklaces, which run in
rivers of colors down their black bodies." But a more
comical picture is seldom presented than that of one of
'-c
2
PC
d
THE BELLES OF KISEMO. 61
those highly-dressed females, " with their huge posterior
development, while grinding out corn. This is done in
a machine very much like an old fashioned churn, except
the dasher becomes a pestle and the churn a mortar.
Swaying with the pestle, as it rises and falls, the breast
and posteriors correspond to the strokes of the dasher in
a droll sort of sing-song, which give to the whole exhi-
bition the drollest effect imaginable."
A curious superstition of the natives was brought to
light here by Shaw removing a stone while putting up
his tent. As he did so, the chief rushed forward, and
putting it back in its place, solemnly stood upon it. On
being asked what was the matter, he carefully lifted it,
pointed to an insect pinned by a stick to the ground,
which he said had been the cause of a miscarriage of a
female of the village.
In the afternoon the messengers came back with the
deserter and all the stolen goods. Some of the natives
had captured him and were about to kill him and take the
goods, when they came up and claimed both. He was
given up, they being content with receiving a little
cloth and beads in return. Stanley, with great sagacity,
caused him to be tried by the other carriers, who con-
demned him to be flogged. They were ordered to carry
out their own sentence, which they did amid the yells
of the culprit.
Before night a caravan arrived, bringing, among other
things, a copy of the Herald, containing an account of a
presidential levee in Washington, in which the toilets of
the various ladies were given. While engrossed in read-
ing in his tent, Stanley suddenly became aware that his
tent-door was darkened, and looking up, he saw the
chiefs daughters gazing with wondering eyes on the
great sheets of paper he was scanning so closely. The
sight of these naked beauties, glittering in brass wire
and beads, presented a ludicrous contrast to the elabor-
ately-dress belles of whom he had been reading in the
paper, and made him feel, by contrast, in what a differ-
ent world he was living.
62 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
On the 12th, the caravan reached Munondi, on the
Ungerangeri River. The country was open and beauti-
ful, presenting a natural park, while the roads were
good, making the day's journey delightful. Flowers
decked the ground, and the perfume of sweet-smelling
shrubs tilled the air. As they approached the river,
they came upon fields of Indian corn and gardens filled
with vegetables, while stately trees lined the bank. On
the 14th, they crossed the river and entered Wakami
territory. This and the next day the road lay through
a charming country. The day, following, they marched
through a forest between two mountains rising on either
side of them, and on the 16th reached the territory of
Wosigahha. As he approached the village of Muhalleh
he was greeted with the discharge of musketry. It
came from the fourth caravan, which had halted here.
Here also good news awaited him. An Arab chief, with
a caravan bound east, was in the place, and told him that
he had met Livingstone at Ujiji, and had lived in the
next hut to him for two weeks. He described him as
looking old, with long, gray moustache and beard, just
recovered from illness, and looking very wan. He said,
moreover, that he was fully recovered, and was going to
visit a country called Monyima. This was cheering
news, indeed, and filled his heart with joy and hope.
The valley here, with its rich crops of Indian corn, was
more like some parts of the fertile west than a desert
country. But the character of the natives began to
change. They became more insolent and brutal, and
accompanied their requests with threats.
Continuing their journey along the valley of the river,
they suddenly, to their astonishment; came upon a walled
town containing a thousand houses. It rose before them
like an apparition with its gates and towers of stone and
double row of loop holes for musketry. The fame of
Stanley had preceded him, being carried by the caravans
he had dispatched ahead, and a thousand or more of the
inhabitants came out to see him. This fortified town
was established by an adventurer famous for his kidnap-
A WALLED TOWN. 63
ping propensities. A barbaric orator, a man of powerful
strength, and of cunning address, he naturally acquired
an ascendency over the rude tribes of the region, and
built him a capital, and fortified it and became a self-
appointed sultan. Growing old, he changed his name,
which had been a terror to the surrounding tribes, and
also the name of his capital, and just before death,
bequeathed his power to his eldest daughter, and named
the town the Sultana, in her honor, which it still bears.
The various women and children hung on the rear of
Stanley's caravan, filled with strange curiosity at sight
of this first white man they had ever seen, but the
searching sun drove them back one by one, and when
Stanley pitched his camp, four miles farther on, he was
unmolested. He determined to halt here for two days
to overhaul his baggage and give the donkeys, whose
backs had become sore, time to recuperate. On the
second day, he was attacked with the African fever,
similar to the chills and fever of this country. He at
once applied the remedies used in the Western States —
namely, powerful doses of quinine, and in three days he
pronounced himself well again.
CHAPTER V.
The Rainy Season sets in — Disgusting Insects — The Cook Caught Steal-
ing— His Punishment and Flight — The March — Men Dispatched
after the Missing Cook — Their Harsh Treatment by the Sultana of
the Walled Town — A Hard March — Crossing the Makata River —
The Rainy Season Ended — Five Miles of Wading — An Enchanting
Prospect — Reaches His Third Caravan, and Finds it Demoralized —
Shaw, its Leader, a Drunken Spendthrift— Delays the March —
Stanley's Dispatch to Him — Lake Ugombo — Scene between Stanley
and Shaw at Breakfast, the Latter Knocked Down— Attempt to
Murder Stanley — Good Advice of an Arab Sheikh — A Feast — Far-
quhar Left Behind.
HE had now traveled one hundred and nineteen miles
in fourteen marches, occupying one entire month
lacking one day, and making, on an average, four miles
a day. This was slow work. The rainy season now set
in, and day after day it was a regular down-pour.
Stanley was compelled to halt, while disgusting insects,
beetles, bugs, wasps, centipedes, worms and almost every
form of the lower animal life, took possession of his tent,
and gave him the first real taste of African life.
On the fifth morning (the 23rd of April), he says the
rain held up for a short time, and he prepared to cross
the river, now swollen and turbid. The bridge over
which he carried his baggage was of the most primitive
kind, while the donkeys had to swim over. The passage
occupied five hours, yet was happily accomplished with-
out any casualties.
Reloading his baggage and wringing out his clothes,
he set out — leaving- the river and following a path that
led off in a northerly direction.
With his heart made more light and cheerful by being
on the march and out of the damp and hateful valley,
made still more hateful by the disgusting insect life that
filled his tent, he ascended to higher ground, and passing
with his caravan through successive glades, opening one
PUNISHMENT FOR PILFERING. 65
after another between forest clumps of trees hemmed in
distantly by isolated peaks and scattered mountains.
"Now and then," he says, "as we crested low eminences,
we caught sight of the blue mountains, bounding the
horizon westerly and northerly, and looked down on a
vast expanse of plain which lay between. At the foot
of the lengthy slope, well watered by bubbling springs
and mountain rills, we found a comfortable Khembi with
well-made huts, which the natives call Simbo. It lies
just two hours, or five miles, north-west from the
Ungerengeri crossing."
We here get incidentally the rapidity with which he
traveled, where the face of the country and the roads
gave him the greatest facilities for quick marching, two
" hours or five miles," he says, which makes his best
time two miles and a half an hour. In this open, beauti-
ful country no villages or settlements could be seen,
though he was told there were many in the mountain
inclosures, whose inhabitants were false, dishonest and
murderous.
On the morning of the 24th, as they were about to
leave Simbo, his Arab cook was caught, for the fifth
time, pilfering, and it being proved against him, Stanley
ordered a dozen lashes to be inflicted on him as a punish-
ment, and Shaw was ordered to administer them. The
blows being given through his clothes, did not hurt him
much, but the stern decree that he, with his donkey and
baggage, shouid be expelled from camp and turned adrift
in the forests of Africa, drove him wild and, leaving
donkey and everything else, he rushed out of camp and
started for the mountains. Stanley, wishing only to
frighten him, and, having no idea of leaving the poor
fellow to perish at the hands of the natives, sent a couple
of his men to recall him. But it was of no use, the poor,
frightened wretch kept on for the mountains, and was
soon out of sight altogether. Believing he would think
better of it and return, his donkey was tied to a tree
near the camping-ground, and the caravan started for-
ward, and passing through the Makata Valley, which
66 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
afterward became of sorrowful memory, it halted at
Rehenneko, at the base of the Usagara Mountains, six
marches distant. This valley is a wilderness, covered
with bamboo, and palm, and other trees, with but one
village on its broad expanse, through which the harte
beast, the antelope and the zebra roam. In the lower
portions, the mud was so deep that it took ten hours to
go ten miles, and they were compelled to encamp in the
woods when but half-way across. Bombay with the
cart did not get in till near midnight, and he brought the
dolorous tale, that he had lost the property tent, an axe,
besides coats, shirts, beads, cloth, pistol and hatchet and
powder. He said he had left them a little while to help
lift the cart out of a mud-hole and during his absence
they disappeared. This told to Stanley at midnight
roused all his wrath, and he poured a perfect storm of
abuse on the cringing Arab, and he took occasion to
overhaul his conduct from the start. The cloth if ever
found, he said, would be spoiled, the axe, which would
be needed at Ujiji to construct a boat, was an irreparable
loss, to say nothing of the pistol, powder and hatchet,
and, worse than all, he had not brought back the cook,
whom he knew there was no intention to abandon, and
he then and there told him he would degrade him from
office and put another man in his place, and then dis-
missed him, with orders to return at daylight and find
the missing property. Four more were dispatched after
the missing cook; Stanley halted here three days to wait
the return of his men. In the meantime, provisions ran
low, and though there was plenty of game, it was so
wild that but little could be obtained — he being able to
secure but two potfuls in two days' shooting — these
were quail, grouse and pigeons. On the fourth day,
becoming exceedingly anxious, he dispatched Shaw and
two more soldiers after the missing men. Toward night
he returned, sick with ague, bringing the soldiers with
him, but not the missing cook. The soldiers reported
that they had marched immediately back to Simbo, and
having searched in vain in its vicinity for the missing
BEFORE THE SULTANA. 67
man, went to the bridge over the river to inquire if he
had crossed there. They were told, so they said, that a
white donkey had crossed the river in another place
driven by some Washensi. Believing the cook had been
murdered by those men, who were making off with his
property, they hastened to the walled town and told the
warriors of the western gate that two Washensi must
have passed the place with a white donkey, who had
murdered a man belonging to the white man. They were
immediately conducted to the sultana, who had much
of the spirit of her father, to whom they told their story.
" The sultana demanded of the watchmen of the
towers if they had seen the two Washensi with the
white donkey. The watchmen answered in the affirm-
ative, upon which she at once dispatched twenty of her
musketeers in pursuit to Muhalleh, who returned before
night, bringing with them the two Washensi and the
donkey, with the cook's entire kit. The sultana, who is
evidently possessed of her father's energy, with all his
lust for wealth, had my messengers, the two Washensi,
the cook's donkey and property at once brought before
her. The two Washensi were questioned as to how they
became possessed of the donkey and such a store of
Kisunga clothes, cloth and beads ; to which they an-
swered that they had found the donkey tied to a tree
with the property on the ground close to it ; that seeing
no owner or claimant anywhere in the neighborhood,
they thought they had a right to it, and accordingly
had taken it with them. My soldiers were then asked
if they recognized the donkey and property, to which
questions they unhesitatingly made answer that they
did. They further informed Her Highness that they
were not only sent after the donkey, but also after the
owner, who had deserted their master's service ; that
they would like to know from the Washensi what they
had done with him. Her Highness was also anxious to
know what the Washensi had done with the Hindi, and
accordingly, in order to elicit the fact, she charged
them with murdering him, and informed them
68 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
she but wished to know what they had done with the
body.
" The Washensi declared most earnestly that they had
spoken the truth, that they had never seen any such
man as described ; and if the sultana desired, they would
swear to such a statement. Her Highness did not wish
them to swear to what in her heart she believed to be a
lie, but she would chain them and send them in charge
of a caravan to Zanzibar to Lyed Burghosh, who would
know what to do with them. Then turning to my sol-
diers, she demanded to know why the Musungu had not
paid the tribute for which she had sent her chiefs. The
soldiers could not answer, knowing nothing of such con-
cerns of their master's. The heiress of Kisabenga, true
to the character of her robber sire, then informed my
trembling men that, as the Masungu had not paid the
tribute, she would now take it ; their guns should be
taken from them, together with that of the cook ; the
donkey she would also take, the Hindi's personal clothes
her chiefs should retain, while they themselves should
be chained until the Musungu himself should return and
take them by force.
" And as she threatened, so was it done. For sixteen
hours, my soldiers were in chains in the market-place,
exposed to the taunts of the servile populace. It chanced
the next day, however, that Sheikh Thani, whom I met
at Kingaru, and had since passed by five days, had
arrived at Simbamwenni, and proceeding to the town to
purchase provisions for the crossing of the Makata wild-
erness, saw my men in chains and at once recognized
them as being in my employ. After hearing their story,
the good-hearted sheikh sought the presence of the sul-
tana, and informed her that she was doing very wrong
— a wrong that could only terminate in blood. ' The
Musungu is strong,' he said, ' very strong. He has got
ten guns which shoot forty times without stopping, car-
rying bullets half an hour's distance ; he has got several
guns which carry bullets that burst and tear a man in
pieces. He could go to the top of that mountain and
REPOKT MY POWER. 69
kill every man, woman and child before one of your
soldiers could reach the top. The road will then be
stopped, Lyed Burghosh will march against your country,
the Wadoe and Wakami will come and take revenge on
what is left ; and the place that your father made so
strong will know the Waseguh ha no more. Set free
the Musungu's soldiers ; give them their food and grain
for the Musungu ; return the guns to the men and let
them go, for the white man may even now be on his
way here.
" The exaggerated report of my power, and the dread
picture sketched by the Arab sheikh, produced good
effect, inasmuch as Kingaru and the Mabrukis were at
once released from durance, furnished with food sufficient
to last our caravan four days, and one gun with its ac-
coutrements and stock of bullets and powder, was
returned, as well as the cook's donkey, with a pair of
spectacles, a book in Malabar print and an old hat which
belonged to one whom we all now believe to be dead.
The sheikh took charge of the soldiers as far as Simbo ;
and it was in his camp, partaking largely of rice and
ghee, that Shaw found them, and the same bountiful
hospitality was extended to him and his companions."
Stanley was now filled with keen regrets that he had
punished the cook in the manner he did, and mentally
resolved that no matter what a member of his caravan
should do in the future he would never drive him out of
camp to perish hy assassins. Still he would not yet
believe that he was murdered. But he was furious at
the treatment of his soldiers by the black Amazon of
Limbamwanni, and the tribute she exacted, especially
the seizure of the guns, and if he had been near the place
would have made reprisals. But he had already lost
four days, and so, next morning, although the rain was
coming down in torrents, he broke camp and set forth.
Shaw was still sick, and so the whole duty of driving
the floundering caravan devolved upon himself. As
fast as one was flogged out of the mire in which he had
stuck, another would fall in. It took two hours to cross
70 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the miry plain, though it was but a mile and a half wide.
He was congratulating himself on having at last got
over it, when he was confronted by a ditch which the
heavy rains had converted into a stream breast deep.
The donkeys had all to be unloaded, and led through
the torrent, and loaded again on the farther side. They
had hardly got under way when they came upon another
btream so deep that it could not be forded, and over
which they had to swim and float across their baggage.
The}7 then floundered on until they came to a bend of
the river, where they pitched their camp, having made
but six miles the whole day. This River Makata is only
about forty feet in width in the dry season, but at this
time was a wide, turbid stream. Its shores with its
matted grass, decayed vegetable matter, reeking mists,
seemed the very home of the ague and fever. It took
live hours to cross it the next morning. The rain came
down in such torrents that traveling became impossible,
and the camp was pitched. Luckily this proved the
last day of the rainy season.
It was now the 1st of May, and the expedition was in
a pitiable plight. Shaw was still sick, and one man was
down with the small pox. Bombay, too, was sick, and
others complaining. Doctoring the sick as well as he
knew how, and laying the whip lustily on the backs of
those who were shamming, Stanley at length got his
caravan in motion and began to cross the Makata plain,
now a swamp thirty-five miles broad. It was plash,
plash, through the water, in some places three or four
feet deep, for two days, until they came in sight of the
Rudewa River. Crossing a branch of this stream, a
sheet of water five miles broad stretched out before the
tired caravan. The men declared it could not be crossed,
but Stanley determined to try, and after five hours' of
the most prostrating effort reached dry ground, but his
animals began to sicken from this day on, while
Stanley himself was seized with the dysentery,
caused by his exposure, and was brought to the
verge of the grave. The expedition seemed about
DEBAUCHERIES OF FARQUHAB. 71
to end there on the borders of the Makata swamp.
On the 4th, they came to the important village of Re-
henneko, the first near which they had encamped since
entering the district of Usagara. It was a square, com-
pact village, surrounded by a mud wall and composed of
cane-topped huts, and containing about one thousand
inhabitants. The air was pure and the water as clear
as crystal, coming from the mountain, on the very top
of which the village is situated. They rested here four
days to recruit. On the 8th, they started forward and
began to ascend the mountain. Having reached the
summit of the first range of hills, Stanley paused to sur-
vey the enchanting prospect. The broad valley of Ma-
kata stretched out before him, laced with streams spark-
ling in the sun, while over it waved countless palm-
trees, and far away, blue in the distance, stretched a
mighty range of mountains. " Turning our faces west,"
he says, " we found ourselves in a mountain world, fold
rising above fold, peak behind peak, cone jostling cone ;
away to the north, to the west, to the south, the moun-
tain tops rolled away like so many vitrified waves, not
one adust or arid spot was visible in all this scene." The
change from the pestilential swamps, through which
they had been so long floundering, was most grateful,
but the animals suffered greatly, and before they reached
their first camping-ground, two had given out. The 9th
they descended into the valley of Mukondokno, and
there struck the road traversed by Speke and Burton in
1817. Reaching the dirty village, Kiora, Stanley iound
there his third caravan, led by Farquhar. By his de-
bauchery on the way he had made himself sick and
brought his caravan into a sad condition. As he heard
Stanley's voice, he came staggering out of his tent, a bloat-
ed mass of human flesh that never would have been recog-
nized as th*e trim mate of the vessel that brought Stanley
from India. After he examined him as to the cause of
his illness, he questioned him about the condition of the
property intrusted to his care. Not able to get an in-
telligent answer out of him, he resolved to overhaul liis
72 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
baggage. On examination, he found that he had spent
enough for provisions on which to gormandize to have
lasted eight months, and yet he had been on the
route but two and a half months. If Stanley had not
overtaken him, everything would have been squandered,
and of all the bales of cloth he was to take to Unyan-
yembe not one bale would have been left. Stanley was
sorely puzzled what to do with the miserable man. He
would die if left at Kiora ; he could not walk or ride
far, and to carry him seemed well-nigh impossible.
On the llth, however, the two caravans started for-
ward, leaving Shaw to follow with one of the men. But
he lagged behind, and had not reached the camp when
it was roused next morning. Stanley at once dispatched
two donkeys, one for the load that was on the cart and
the other for Shaw, and with the messenger the follow-
ing note: "You will, upon the receipt of this order,
pitch the cart into the nearest ravine, gully or river, as
well as all the extra pack saddles; and come at once,
fot God's sake, for we must not starve here" After
waiting four hours, he went back himself and met them,
the carrier with the cart on his head, and Shaw on the
donkey, apparently ready, at the least jolt, to tumble
off. They, however, pusRed on, and arrived at Madete
at 4 o'clock. Crossing the river about three, and keep-
ing on, they, on the 14th, from the top of a hill, caught
sight of Lake Ugenlo. The outline of it, he says, re-
sembles England without Wales. It is some three miles
long by two wide, and is the abode of great numbers of
hippopotami, while the buffalo, zebra, boar and antelope
come here by night to quench their thirst. Its bosom
is covered with wild fowl of every description. Being
obliged to halt here two days on account of the deser-
tion of the cooper, with one of the carbines, he explored
the lake. Two more donkeys died here.
The deserter having returned of his own free will, the
caravan started forward, cursed by the slow progress of
the peevish, profane and violent Shaw. The next day,
at breakfast, a scene occurred that threatened serious
SOMETHING WRONG. 73
consequences. When Shaw and Farquhar took their
places, Stanley saw by their looks that something was
wrong. The breakfast was a roast quarter of goat,
stewed liver, some sweet potatoes, pancakes and coffee.
"Shaw," said Stanley, " please carve and serve Farquhar."
Instead of doing so, he exclaimed in an insulting tone,
"What dog's meat is this?" "What do you mean?"
demanded Stanley. "I mean," replied the fellow, "that
it is a downright shame the way you treat us," and then
complained of being compelled to walk and help himself,
instead, as he was promised, have servants to wait upon
him. All this was said in a loud, defiant tone, inter-
luded with frequent oaths and curses of the "damned
expedition," etc. When he had got through, Stanley,
fixing his black, resolute eye on him, said : " Listen to
me, Shaw, and you, Farquhar, ever since you left the
coast, you have had donkeys to ride. You have had
servants to wait upon you; your tents have been set up
for you; your meals have been cooked for you; you
have eaten with me of the same food I have eaten ; you
have received the same treatment I have received. But
now all Farquhar's donkeys are dead; seven of my own
have died, and I have had to throw away a few things,
in order to procure carriage for the most important
goods. Farquhar is too sick to walk, he must have a
donkey to ride ; in a few days all our animals will be
dead, after which I must have over twenty more pagosis
to take up the goods or wait weeks and weeks for car-
riage. Yet, in the face of these things, you can grumble,
and curse, and swear at me at my own table. Have you
considered well your position ? Do you realize where
you are ? Do you know that you are my servant, sir,
not my companion?"
" Servant, be " said he.
Just before Mr. Shaw could finish his sentence he had
measured his length on the ground.
" Is it necessary for me to proceed further to teach
you ? " said Stanley.
" I tell you what it is, sir/' he said, raising himself up,
74 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OP AFRICA.
" I think I had better go back. I have had enough, and
I do not mean to go any farther with you. I ask my
discharge from you."
"Oh, certainly. What — who is there ? Bombay, come
here."
After Bombay's appearance at the tent-door, Stanley
said to him: "Strike this man's tent," pointing to Shaw;
" he wants to go back. Bring his gun and pistol here to
my tent, and take this man and his baggage two hun-
dred yards outside of the camp, and there leave him."
In a few minutes his tent was down, his gun and
pistol in Stanley's tent, and Bombay returned to make
his report, with four men under arms.
"Now go, sir. You are at perfect liberty to go.
These men will escort you outside of camp, and there
leave you and your baggage."
He walked out, the men escorting him and carrying
his baggage for him.
After breakfast Stanley explained to Farquhar how
necessary it was to be able to proceed ; that he had had
plenty of trouble, without having to think of men who
were employed to t'hink of him and their duties; that, as
he (Farquhar) was sick, and would be probably unable
to march for a time, it would be better to leave him in
some quiet place, under the care of a good chief, who
would, for a consideration, look after him until he got
well. To all of which Farquhar agreed.
Stanley had barely finished speaking before Bombay
came to the tent-door, saying : " Shaw would like to
speak to you.''
Stanley went out to the door of the camp, and there
met Shaw, looking extremely penitent and ashamed.
He commenced to ask pardon, and began imploring to
be taken back, and promising that occasion to find fault
with him again should never arise.
Stanley held out his hand, saying: "Don't mention
it, my dear fellow. Quarrels occur in the best of fami-
lies. Since you apologize, tljere is an end of it."
FARQUHAR LEFT. 75
On the 16th of May the little caravan started off
again, and after a inarch of fifteen miles, camped at
Matamombo, in a region where monkeys, rhinocerse,
sceinlaks and antelopes abounded. The next day's
march was through an interminable jungle, and extended
fifteen miles. Here he came upon the old Arab sheikh,
Thani, who gave him the following good advice : "Stop
here two or three days, give your tired animals some
rest, and collect all the carriers you can ; fill your insides
with fresh milk, sweet potatoes, beef, mutton, ghee,
honey, beans, matama, maderia, nuts, and then, Inshalla!
we shall go through Ugogo without stopping anywhere."
Stanley was sensible enough to take this advice. He
at once commenced on this certainly very prodigal bill
of fare for Central Africa. How it agreed with him after
the short trial of a single day, may be inferred from the
following entry in his diary :
" Thank God ! after fifty-seven days of living upon
matama porridge and tough goat, I have enjoyed with
unctuous satisfaction a real breakfast and a good dinner."
Here upon the Mpwapwa, he found a place to leave
the Scotchman, Farquhar, until he should be strong
enough to join him at Unyanyembe. But when he pro-
posed this to the friendly chief, he would consent only
on the condition that he would leave one of his own men
behind to take care of him. This complicated matters,
not only because he could not well spare a man, but
because it would be difficult to find one who would con-
sent to undertake this difficult task. This man, whom
Stanley had thought would be a reliable friend and a
good companion in his long, desolate marches, had turned
out a burden and a nuisance. His wants were almost
endless, and instead of using the few words in the lan-
guage of the natives to make them known, he would
use nothing but the strongest Anglo-Saxon, and when
he found he was not understood, would fall to cursing
in equally good round English oaths, and if the aston-
ished natives did not understand this, relapsed into
regular John Bull sullenness. When, therefore, Stanley
76 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
opened up the subject to Bombay, the latter was horrified.
He said the men had made a contract to go through, not
to stop by the way ; and when Stanley, in despair,
turned to the men, they one and all refused absolutely
to remain behind with the cursing, unreasonable white
man — one of them mimicking his absurd conduct so
completely, that Stanley himself could not help laughing.
But the man must be left behind, and somebody must
take care of him; and so Stanley had to use his authority,
and notwithstanding all his protestations and entreaties,
Sako, the only one who could speak English, was ordered
to stay behind.
Having engaged here twelve new carriers, and from
the nearest mountain summit obtained an entrancing
view of the surrounding region for a hundred miles, he
prepared to start, but not before, notwithstanding the
good milk it furnished, giving Mpwapwa a thorough
malediction for its earwigs. " In my tent," he says,
" they might be counted by thousands ; in my slung cot
by hundreds ; on my clothes they were by fifties ; on
my neck and head they were by scores. The several
plagues of locusts,fleas and lice sink into utter insignifi-
cance compared with this damnable one of earwigs."
Their presence drove him almost insane. Next to these
come the white ants, that threatened in a short time to
eat up every article of baggage.
He now pushed on toward the Ugogo district, famous
for the tribute it exacted from all caravans.
CHAPTER VI.
Three of his caravans meet — A waterless desert traversed — Stanley
down with, the fever — A land of plenty and of extortion — A populous
district — A modern hercules — An African village — Stanley curbs
his temper for economy's sake — A good sultan — News from one of
his caravans — Curious natives — Flogged by Stanley into proper be-
havior— Salt plains — Stanley stops to doctor himself — A curious
visit from a chief — A noble African tribe — A mob — Quarrel over the
route to be taken — Settled by Stanley — A merry march — Conden-
sation of Stanley's account of the character of the country and the
tribes of Central Africa.
ON the 22nd of May, the two other caravans of Stan-
ley joined him, only three hours' march from Mpwap-
wa, so that the one caravan numbered some four hundred
souls — but not too large to insure a safe transit through
dreaded Ugogo. A waterless desert, thirty miles across,
and which it would take seventeen hours to traverse,
now lay before them. On the way, Stanley was struck
down with fever, and, borne along in a hammock, was
indifferent to the herds of giraffes, and zebras, and ante-
lopes that scoured the desert plain around him. The
next morning the fever left him, and, mounting, he rode
at the head of his caravan, and at 8 A. M. had passed
the sterile wilderness and had entered the Ugogo district.
He had now come into a land of plenty, but one also of
extortion. The tribute that all passing caravans had to
pay to the chiefs or sultans of this district was enormous.
At the first village the appearance of this white man
caused an indescribable uproar. The people came pour-
ing out, men and women, naked, yelling, shouting, quar-
reling and fighting, making it a perfect babel around
Stanley, who became irritated at this unseemly demon-
stration. But it was of no use. One of his men asked
them to stop, but the only reply was " shut up" in good
native language. Stanley, however, was soon oblivious
of their curiosity or noise — heavy doses of quinine to
check a chill sent him off into a half doze. The next
77
78 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
day, a march of eight miles brought him to the sultan
of the district. Report did not exaggerate the abundance
of provisions to be found here. Now came the pay of
tribute to the exorbitant chief. After a great deal of
parley, which was irritating and often childish, Stanley
satisfied the sultan's greed, and, on the 27th of May,
shook the dust of the place from his feet and pushed
westward. As he passed the thickly-scattered villages
and plenteous fields, filled with tillers, he did not wonder
at the haughty bearing of the sultan, for he could com-
mand force enough to rob and destroy every caravan
that passed that way. Twenty-seven villages lined the
road to the next sultan's district, Matomhiru. This
sultan was a modern hercules, with head and shoulders
that belonged to a giant. He proved, however, to be a
much more reasonable man than the last sultan, and,
after a little speechifying, the tribute was paid and the
caravan moved off toward Bihawena. The day was hot,
the land sterile, crossed with many jungles, which made
the march slow and difficult. In the midst of this deso-
late plain were the villages of the tribe, their huts no
higher than the dry, bleached grass that stood glimmer-
ing in the heat of the noon-day sun. Here he was
visited by three natives, who endeavored to play a sharp
game upon him, which so enraged Stanley that he would
have flogged them with his whip out of camp, but one
of his men told him to beware, for every blow would cost
three or four yards of cloth. Not willing to pay so dearly
to gratify his temper he forbore. The sultan was
moderate in his demands, and from him he received news
from his fourth caravan, which was in ad vunce, and had
had a fight with some robbers, killing two of them. It
was only eight miles to the next sultan. The water
here was so vile that two donkeys died by drinking of
it, while the men could hardly swallow it. Stanley,
nervous and weak from fever, paid the extravagant
tributes demanded of him, without altercation. From
here to the next sultan was a long stretch of forest, filled
with elephants, rhinoceros, zebras, deer, etc. But they
THKASHING A NATIVE. 79
had no time to stop and hunt. At noon they had left
the last water they should find until noon the next day,
even with sharp marching, and, hence, no delay could
be permitted. The men without tents bivouacked under
the trees, while Stanley tossed and groaned all night
in a paroxysm of fever, but his courage in no way weak-
ened. At dawn the caravan started off through the dark
forest, in which one of the carriers fell sick and died.
At 7 A. M. they drew near Nyambwa, where excellent
water was found. The villagers crowded round them
with shouts and yells, and finally became so insolent that
Stanley grabbed one of them by the neck and gave him
a sound thrashing with his donkey- whip. This enraged
them, arid they walked backward and forward like angry
tom-cats, shouting, "Are the Wagogo to be beaten like
slaves ?" and they seemed, by their ferocious manner de-
termined to avenge their comrade, but the moment Stan-
ley raised his whip and advanced they scattered. Finding
that the long lash, which cracked like a pistol, had a
wholesome effect, whenever they crowded upon him so
as to impede his progress, he laid it about him without
mercy, which soon cleared a path.
The Sultan Kimberah was a small, queer and dirty old
man, a great drunkard, and yet the most powerful of all
the Ugogp chiefs. Here they had considerable trouble
in arranging the amount of tribute, but at length every-
thing was settled and the caravan passed on, and emerging
from the corn-field, entered on a vast salt plain, contain-
ing a hundred or more square miles, from the salt springs
of which the Wagogo obtained their salt. At Mizarza,
the next cam ping- place, Stanley was compelled to halt
and doctor himself for the fever which was wearing him
to skin and bones. Early in the morning he began to
take his quinine, and kept repeating the doses at short
intervals until a copious perspiration told him he had
broken the fever which had been consuming him for
fourteen days. During this time, the sultan of the district,
attracted by Stanley's lofty tent, with the American flag
floating above it, visited him. He was so astonished at
80 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the loftiness and furnishings of the tent, that in his
surprise he let fall the loose cloth that hung from his
shoulders and stood stark naked in front of Stanley,
gaping in mute wonder. Admonished by his son — a lad
fifteen years old — he resumed his garb and sat down to
talk. Stanley showed him his rifles and other fire-arms,
which astonished him beyond measure.
The 4th of June, the caravan was started forward
again, and after three hours' march, came upon another
district, containing only two villages, occupied by pas-
toral Wahumba and Wahehe. These live in cow-dung
cone huts, shaped like Tartar tents.
"The Wahumba, so far as I have seen them, are a fine
and well-formed race. The men are positively handsome,
tall, with small heads, the posterior parts of which project
considerably. One will look in vain for a thick lip or
ffat nose amongst them ; on the contrary, the mouth is
exceedingly well cut, delicately small ; the nose is that
of the Greeks, and so universal was the peculiar feature,
that I at once named them the Greeks of Africa. Their
lower limbs have not the heaviness of the Wagogo and
other tribes, but are long and shapely, clean as those of
an antelope. Their necks are long and slender, on which
their small heads are poised most gracefully. Athletes
from their youth, shepherd bred, and intermarrying
among themselves, thus keeping the race pure, any of
them would form a fit subject for a sculptor who would
wish to immortalize in marble an. Antrinus, a Hylas, a
Daphnis, or an Appolo. The women are as beautiful as
the men are handsome. They have clear ebon skins, not
coal black, but of an inky hue. Their ornaments consist
of spiral rings of brass pendant from the ears, brass ring
collars about the neck, and a spiral cincture of brass
wire about their loins, for the purpose of retaining their
calf and goat skins, which are folded about their bodies,
and depending from the shoulder, shade one half of the
bosom, and fall to the knees.
"The Wahehe might well be styled the Romans of
Africa.
A MOB. 81
"Resuming our march, after a halt of an hour, in four
hours more we arrived at Mukondoku proper.
"This extremity of Ugogo is most populous. The
villages which surround the central tembe, where the
Sultan Swaruru lives, amount to thirty-six. The people
who nocked from these to see the wonderful men whose
faces where white, who wore the most wonderful things
on their persons, and possessed the most wonderful
weapons ; guns which 'bum-bummed' as fast as you could
count on your fingers, formed such a mob of howling
savages, that I, for an instant, thought there was some^
thing besides mere curiosity which caused such a
commotion, and attracted such numbers to the roadside.
Halting, I asked what was the matter, and what they
wanted, and why they had made such a noise ? One
burly rascal, taking my words for a declaration of hos-
tilities, promptly drew his bow, but as prompt as he had
fixed his arrow my faithful Winchester with thirteen
shots in the magazine was ready and at my shoulder,
and but waited to see the arrow fly to pour the leaden
messengers of death into the crowd. But the crowd
vanished as quickly as they had come, leaving the burly
Thersites, and two or three irresolute fellows of his tribe,
standing within pistol range of my leveled rifle. Such
a sudden dispersion of the mob which, but a moment
before, was overwhelming, caused me to lower my rifle
and indulge in a hearty laugh at the disgraceful flight
of the men-destroyers. The Arabs, who were as much
alarmed at their boisterous obtrusiveness, now came up
to patch up a truce, in which they succeeded to every-
body's satisfaction.
"A few words of explanation, and the mob came back
in greater numbers than before; and the Thersites who
had been the cause of the momentary disturbance were
obliged to retire abashed before the pressure of public
opinion. A chief now came up, whom I afterwards
learned was the second man to Swaruru, and lectured
the people upon their treatment of the 'white strangers.' "
The tribute-money was easily settled here. On the
82 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
7th of June, the route was resumed. There were three
roads leading to Uyanzi. and which of the three to take
caused long discussion and much quarrelling, and when
Stanley settled the matter and the caravan started off
on the road to Kiti, an attempt was made to direct it to
another road, which Stanley soon discovered and pre-
vented only by his prompt resort to physical argu-
ments.
At last, they reached the borders of Uyanzi, glad to
be clear of the land of Ugogo, said to be flowing with
milk and honey, but which proved to Stanley a land of
gall and bitterness. The forest they entered was a
welcome change from the villages of Ugogo, and two
hours after leaving them, they came, with^ the merry
sound of horns, to a river in a new district. Continuing
on, they made the forest ring with cheers, and shouts.
and native songs. The country was beautiful, and the
scenery more like cultivated England in former times
than barbaric Africa.
Passing thus merrily on, they had made twenty miles
by five o'clock. At one o'clock next morning, the camp
was roused, and by the light of the moon the march was
resumed, and at three o'clock arrived at a village to rest
till dawn. They had reached a land of plenty and fared
well. Kiti was entered on the 10th of June, where cattle
and grain could be procured in abundance.
A valley fifteen miles distant was the next camp, and
a march of three hours and a half brought them to
another village, where provisions were very cheap.
They were now approaching Unyanyembe, their first
great stopping-place,, and where the term of service of
many of Stanley's men expired. They marched rapidly
now — to-day through grain fields, to-morrow past burnt
villages, the wreck of bloody wars.
At last, with banners flying and trumpets and horns
blowing, and amid volleys of small arms, the caravan
entered Unyanyembe.
Of the three routes from the coast to this place, Stanley
discarded the two that had before been travelled by Speke
ADMIRABLE MISSION SITES. 83
and Burton and Grant and chose the third, with the
originality of an American, and thus saved nearly two
hundred miles' travel.
Mr. Stanley, after reaching this first great objective
point, goes back and gives a general description of the
regions he has traversed. To the geographer, it may be
of interest, but not to the general reader. But the
following, taken from his long account, will give the
reader a clear idea of the country traversed and of its
inhabitants. Beginning with Wiami River, emptying
into the Indian Ocean near Zanzibar, he says :
" First it appears to me that the Wiami River is avail-
able for commerce, and by a little improvement, could
be navigated by light-draft steamers near to the Usagara
Mountains, the healthy region of this part of Africa, and
which could be reached by steamers in four days from
the coast, and then it takes one into a country where
ivory, sugar, cotton, indigo and other productions can be
obtained."
" Four days by steamer bring the missionary to the
healthy uplands of Africa, where he can live amongst
the gentle Wasagara without fear or alarm ; where he
can enjoy the luxuries of civilized life without fear of
being deprived of them, amid the most beautiful and
picturesque scenes a poetic fancy could imagine. Here
is the greenest verdure, purest water ; here are valleys
teeming with grain-stalks, forests of tamarind, mimosa,
gum-copal tree ; here is the gigantic moule, the stately
mparamnsi, the beautiful palm ; a scene such as only a
tropic sky covers. Health and abundance of food are
assured to the missionary ; gentle people are at his feet,
ready to welcome him. Except civilized society, noth-
ing that the soul of man can desire is lacking here.
" From the village of Kadetamare a score of admirable
mission sites are available, with fine health-giving breezes
blowing over them, water in abundance at their feet,
fertility unsurpassed around them, with docile, good-
tempered people dwelling everywhere, at peace with each
other and all travellers and neighbors.
84- EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
" As the passes of the Olympus unlocked the gates of
the Eastern empires to the hordes of Othman ; so the
passes of the Mukondokwa may admit the Gospel and
its beneficent influences into the heart of savage Africa.
" I can fancy old Kadetamare rubbing his hands with
glee at the sight of the white man coming to teach his
people the words of the ' Molungu ' — the Sky Spirit ;
how to sow, and reap, and build houses ; how to cure
their sick, how to make themselves comfortable — in
short, how to be civilized. But the missionary, to be
successful, must know his duties as well as a thorough
sailor must know how to reef, hand and steer. He must
be no kid-glove, effeminate man, no journal writer, no
disputatious polemic, no silken stole and chasuble-loving
priest — but a thorough, earnest laborer in the garden of
the Lord — a man of the David Livingstone, or of the
Robert MofFatt stamp.
" The other river, the Rufiji, or Ruhwha, is a still more
important stream than the Wiami. It is a much longer
river, and discharges twiceas much water into the Indian
Ocean. It rises near some mountains about one hundred
miles south-west of Nbena. Kisigo River, the most
northern and most important affluent of the Ruhwha, is
supposed to flow into it near east longitude thirty-five
degrees; from the confluence to the sea, the Ruhwha has
a length of four degrees of direct longitude. This fact,
of itself, must prove its importance and rank among the
rivers of East Africa.
" After Zanzibar, our debut into Africa is made via
Bagomayo. At this place we may see seven different
tribes ; yet it would be a difficult task for any person,
at mere sight of their dresses or features, to note the differ-
ences. Only by certain customs or distinctive marks,
such as tattooing, puncturing of the lobes of the ears,
ornaments, wearing the hair, etc., which would appear,
at first, too trivial to note, could one discriminate between
the various tribal representatives. There are certainly
differences, but not so varied or marked as thejt, are
reported.
THE PURE BARBARIANS. 85
" The Wasawahili, of course, through their intercourse
with semi-civilization, present us with a race, or tribe,
influenced by a state of semi-civilized society, and are,
consequently, better dressed and appear to better advan-
tage than their more savage brethren farther west. As
it is said that underneath the Russian skin lies the Tar-
tar, so it may be said that underneath the dish-dasheh,
or shirt of the Wasawahili, one will find the true bar-
barian. In the street or bazaar he appears semi- Arabized ;
his suavity of manner, his prostrations and genuflexions,
the patois he speaks, all prove his contact and aifinity
with the dominant race, whose subject he is. Once out
of the coast towns, in the Washensi villages, he sheds
the shirt that had half civilized him, and appears in all
his deep blackness of skin, prognathous jaws, thick lips
—the pure negro and barbarian. Not keenest eye
could detect the difference between him and the Was-
hensi, unless his attention had been drawn to the fact
that the two men were of different tribes.
" The next tribe to which we are introduced are the
Wakwere, who occupy a limited extent of country
between the Wazaramo and the Wadoe. They are the
first representatives of the pure barbarian the traveler
meets, when but two days' journey from the sea-coast.
They are a timid tribe and a very unlikely people to
commence an attack upon any body of men for mere
plunder's sake. They have not a very good reputation
among the Arab and Wasawahili traders. They are said
to be exceedingly dishonest, of which 1 have not the least
doubt. They furnished me with good grounds for believ-
ing these reports while encamped at Kingaru, Hera and
Irnbiki. The chiefs of the more eastern part of Ukwere
profess nominal allegiance to the Dwians and the Mrima.
They have selected the densest jungles wherein to
establish their villages. Every entrance into one of their
valleys is jealously guarded by strong wooden gates,
seldom over four and a half feet high, and so narrow,
sometimes, that one must enter sideways.
" These jungle islets which in particular dot the extent
86 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of Ukwere, present formidable obstacles to a naked
enemy. The plants, bushes and young trees which form
their natural defence, are generally of the aloetic and
thorny species, growing so dense, interlaced one with
the other, that the hardiest and most desperate robber
would. not brave the formidable array of sharp thorns
which bristle everywhere.
" Some of these jungle islets are infested with ban-
ditti, who seldom fail to take advantage of the weakness
of a single wayfarer, more especially if he be a Mgwana
— a freeman of Zanzibar, as every negro resident of the
island of Zanzibar is distinguished by the Washensi
natives of the interior.
" I should estimate the population of Ukwere, allow-
ing about one hundred villages to this territory (which
is not more than thirty miles square), at not more than
five thousand souls. Were all these banded together
under the command of one chief, the Wakwere might
become a powerful tribe.
" After the \V akwere we come to the Wakami, a rem-
nant of a once grand nation, which occupied the lands
from the Ungerengeri to the Great Makata River. Fre-
quent wars with the Wadoe and Waseguhha have
reduced them to a narrow belt of country, ten rectilinear
miles across, which maybe said to be comprised between
Kiva Peak and the stony ridge bounding the valley of
the Ungerengeri on the east, within a couple of miles
from the east bank of the river.
" They are as numerous as bees in the Ungerengeri
Valley. The unsurpassed fertility has been a great
inducement to retain for these people the distinction of
a tribe. By the means of a spy-glass one may see, as
he stands on the top of that stouy ridge looking down
into the fair valley, clusters of brown huts visible amid
bosky clumps, fullness and plenty all over the valley,
and may count easily over a hundred villages.
"From Ukami, we pass Southern Udoe, and find a
warlike, fine-looking people, with a far more intelligent
cast of features, and a shade lighter than the Wakami
PICTURESQUE FOREST SCENERY. 87
and Wakwere — a people who are full of traditions of
race, a people who have boldly rushed to war upon the
slightest encroachment upon their territories, and who
have bravely defended themselves against the Waseguhha
and Wakami, as well as against nomadic marauders from
Uhumba.
" Udoe, in appearance, is amongst the most picturesque
countries between the sea and Nyanyembe. Great cones
shoot upward above the everlasting forest, tipped by the
light, fleecy clouds, through which the warm, glowing
sun darts its rays, bathing the whole in sunlight, which
brings out those globes of foliage, which rise in tier after
tier to the summit of the hills, colors which would mock
the most ambitious painter's efforts at imitation. Udoe
first evokes the traveller's love of natural beauty after
leaving the sea, her roads lead him up along the sharp
spines of hilly ridges, whence he may look down upon
the forest-clad slopes, declining on either side of him
into the depths of deep valleys, to rise up beyond into
aspiring cones which kiss the sky, or into a high ridge
with deep, concentric folds, which almost tempt one to
undergo much labor in exploring them for the provoking
air of mystery in which they seem to be enwrapped.
" What a tale this tribe could relate of the slave-trader's
deeds. Attacked by the joint forces of the Waseguhha
from the west and north, and the slave-traders of Whinde
and Saadani from the east, the Wadoe have seen their
wives and little ones carried into slavery a hundred
times, and district after district taken from their country
and attached to Useguhha. For the people of Uaeguhha
were hired to attack their neighbors, the Wadoe, by the
Whiride slave-traders, and were also armed with muskets
and supplied with amunition by them, to effect large and
repeated captures of Wadoe slaves. The people of this
tribe, especially women and children, so superior in
physique and intelligence to the servile races by which
they were surrounded, were eagerly sought for as con-
cubines and domestics by the lustful Mohammedans.
" This tribe we first note to have distinctive tribal
88 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
marks — by a line, punctures extending lengthwise on
each side of the face, and a chipping of the two inner
sides of the two middle teeth of the upper row.
" The arms of this tribe are similar to the arms of the
Wakami and Wakwere, and consist of a bow and arrows,
a shield, a couple of light spears or assegais, a long knife,
a handy little battle-axe and a club with a large knob
at the end of it, which latter is dexterously swung at
the head of an enemy, inflicting a stunning and some-
times a fatal blow.
" Emerging from the forest of Mikeseh, we enter the
territory of the Waseguhha, or Wasegura, as the Arabs
wrongly call this country. Useguhha extends over two
degrees in length, and its greatest breadth is ninety geo-
graphical miles. It has two main divisions, that of South-
ern Useguhha, from Uruguni to the Wiami River, and
Northern Useguhha, under the chieftain Moto, from the,
Wiami River to Umagassi and Usumbara.
" Mostly all the Waseguhha warriors are armed with
muskets, and the Arabs supply them with enough ammu-
nition, in return for which they attack Waruguru, Wadoe
and Wakwenni, to obtain slaves for the Arab market,
and it is but five years since the Waseguhha organized
a successful raid into the very heart af the Wasagara
Mountains, during which they desolated the populated
part of the Makata plain, capturing over five hundred
slaves. Formerly wars in this country were caused by
blood feuds between different chiefs ; they are now en-
couraged by the slave buyers of the Mirma, for the
purpose of supplying these human chattels for the market
of Zanzibar. The Waseguhha are about the most
thorough believers in witchcraft, yet the professors of
this dark science fare badly at their hands. It is a very
common sight to see cinereous piles on the roadside, and
the waving garments suspended to the branches of trees
above them, which mark the fate of the unfortunate
' Wagaua' or medicine man. So long as their predictions
prove correct and have a happy culmination, these pro-
fessors of the magic art are regarded with favour by the
THE MAGIC ART. 89
people ; but if an unusual calamity overtakes a family,
and they can swear that it is the result of the magician's
art, a quorum of relentless inquisition is soon formed,
and a like fate to that which overtook the 'witches' in
the dark days of New England surely awaits him.
" Enough dead wood is soon found in their African
forests, and the unhappy one perishes by fire, and, as a
warning to all false professors of the art, his loin-cloth
is hung up to a tree above the spot where he met his doom.
" In Southern Usagara, the people are most amiable ;
but in the north, in those districts adjacent to the
Wahumba, the people partake of the ferocious character
of their fierce neighbors. Repeated attacks from the
kidnappers and robbers on the south-west, west and
north, have caused them to regard strangers with
suspicion ; but after a short acquaintance they prove to
be a frank, amiable and brave people. Indeed, they
have good cause to be distrustful of the Arabs of Zanzi-
bar. Mbumi, Eastern Usagara, has been twice burned
down, within a few years, by the Arabian kidnappers.
" The Wasagara, male and female, tattoo the forehead,
bosom and arms. Besides inserting the neck of a gourd
in each ear — which carries his little store of tobacco, and
lime, which he has obtained by burning land shells — he
carries quite a number of primitive ornaments around
his neck, such as two or three snowy cowrie-shells,
carved pieces of wood, or a small goat's horn, or some
medicine consecrated by the medicine man of the tribe,
a fund of red or white beads, or a string of copper coins,
and sometimes small brass chains, like a cheap Jack
watch-chain. These things they have either made them-
selves or purchased from Arab traders for chickens or
goats. The children all go naked ; youths wear a goat
or sheep-skin ; grown men and women, blessed with
progeny, wear domestic or a loin-cloth of Kaniki, or a
barsati, which is a favorite colored cloth in Usagara;
chiefs wear caps such as are worn by the Arabs.
" Next on our line of march, appears the Wagoo-o, a
powerful race, inhabiting the region west of Usagara' to
90 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Uyanzi, which is about eighty miles in breadth and about
one hundred in length.
" The traveler has to exercise great prudence, discretion
and judgment in his dealings with them. Here he first
heard the word ' houga' after passing Limboinweiini, a
word which signifies tribute, though it formerly meant
a present to a friend. Since it is exacted from him. with
threats, that if it is not paid they will make war on him,
its best interpretation would be, 'forcibly extorted tribute
or toll.'
" Naturally, if the traveler desires to be mulcted of a
large sum, he will find the Wagogo ready to receive
every shred of cloth he gives them. Moumi will demand
sixty cloths, and will wonder at his own magnanimity
in asking such a small number of cloths from a great
white man. The traveler, however, will be wise if he
permits his chief men to deal with them, after enjoining
them to be careful, and not commit themselves too
hastily to any number.
" They are, physically and intellectually, the best of
the races between Unyamwezi and the sea. Their color
is a rich dark brown. There is something in their frontal
aspect almost leonine. Their faces are broad and intelli-
gent. Their eyes are large and round. Their noses are
flat, and their mouths are very large ; but their lips,
though thick, are not so monstrously thick as those our
exaggerated ideal of a negro has. For all this, though
the Mgogo is a ferocious man, capable of proceeding to
any length upon the slightest temptation, he is an attrac-
tive figure to the white traveler. He is proud of his
chief, proud of his country, sterile and unlovable though
it be ; he is proud of himself, his prowess, his weapons
and his belongings ; he is vain, terribly egotistic, a bully,
and a tyrant, yet the Mgogo is capable of forming friend-
ships, and of exerting himself for friendship's sake. One
grand vice in his character, which places him in a hostile
light to travelers, is his exceeding avarice and greed for
riches ; and if the traveler suffers by this, he is not likely
to be amiably disposed toward him.
THE CHARACTER OF THE MGOGO. 91
" This sturdy native, with his rich complexion, his
lion front, his menacing aspect, bullying nature, haughty,
proud and quarrelsome, is a mere child to the man who
will devote himself to the study of his nature, and not
offend his vanity. He is easily angered, and his curi-
osity is easily aroused. A traveler with an angular
disposition is sure to quarrel with him — but, in the pres-
ence of this rude child of nature, especially when he is
so powerful, it is to his advantage and personal safety to
soften those angles of his own nature. The Kigogo
' Rob Roy ' is on his native ground, and has a decided
advantage over the white foreigner. He is not brave,
but he is, at least, conscious of the traveler's weakness,
and he is disposed to take advantage of it, but is pre-
vented from committing an act because it is to his
advantage to keep the peace. Any violence to a traveler
would close the road ; caravans would seek other ways,
and the chiefs would be deprived of much of their
revenues.
" The Mgogo warrior carries as his weapons a bow and
a sheaf of murderous-looking arrows, pointed, pronged
and barbed ; a couple of light, beautifully-made assegais ;
a broad, sword-like spear, with a blade over two feet
long; a battle-axe, and a rungu or knob-club. He has
also a shield, painted with designs in black and white,
oval-shaped, sometimes of rhinoceros, or elephant, or
bull-hide. From the time he was a toddling urchin he
has been familiar with his weapons, and by the time he
was fifteen years old he was an adept with them.
"He is armed for battle in a very short time. The
messenger from the chief darts from village to village,
and blows his ox-horn, the signal for war. The warrior
hears it, throws his hoe over his -shoulder, enters his
house, and in a few seconds issues out again, arrayed in
war-paint and full fighting costume. Feathers of the
ostrich, or the eagle, or the vulture nod above his head ;
his long crimson robe streams behind him, his shield is
on his left arm, his darting assegai in his left hand, and
his ponderous man-cleaver — double-edged and pointed,
92 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
heading a strong staff — is in his right hand ; jingling
bells are tied around his ankles and knees ; ivory wris-
lets are on his arms, with which he sounds his approach.
With the plodding peasant's hoe he has dropped the
peasant's garb, and is now the proud, vain, exultant
warrior — bounding aloft like a gymnast, eagerly sniffing
the battle-field. The strength and power of the Wagogo
are derived from their numbers.
Though caravans of the Wagogo are sometimes found
passing up and down the Unyamwezi road, they are not
so generally employed as the Wanyamwezi in trade.
Their villages are thus always full of warriors. Weak
tribes, or remnants of tribes are very glad to be admitted
under their protection. Individuals of other tribes, also,
who have been obliged to exile themselves from their
own tribes, for some deed of violence, are often found in
the villages of the Wagogo. Wanyamwi are also fre-
quently found in this country. Indeed, these latter
people are like Scotchmen ; they may be found almost
everywhere throughout Central Africa, and have a knack
of pushing themselves into prominence.
As in Western Usagara, the houses of the Wagogo are
square, arranged around the four sides of an area — to
which all the doors open. The roofs are all flat, on which
are spread the grain, herbs, tobacco and pumpkins. The
back of each department is pierced with small holes for
observation and for defence.
"The dwelling is a fragile affair as constructed in
Ugogo ; it merely consists of a line of slender sticks
daubed over with mud, with three or four strong poles
planted at intervals to support the beams and rafters, on
which rests the flat clay roof. In Uyanzi, the dwelling
is a formidable affair, because of the abundance of fine
trees, which are cut down and split into rails three or
four inches thick.
The house is divided into apartments, separated from
each other by a wall. Each apartment may contain a
family of grown-up boys and girls, who form their beds
on the floor, out of dressed hides. The father of the
MODE OF BUKIAL. 93
family, only, has a fixed cot, made of ox-hide, stretched
over a frame, 'or of the bark of a tree. The floor is of
tamped mud,* and is exceedingly filthy, smelling strongly
of every abomination. In the corners, suspended to the
rafters, are the fine, airy dwellings of black spiders of
a very large size, and other monstrous insects.
The Wagogo believe in the existence of a God, or sky
spirit, whom they call Mulungu. Their prayers are
generally directed to him when their parents die. A
Mgogo, after he has consigned his father to the grave,
collects his father's chattels together, his cloth, his ivory,
his knife, his hoe, his bows and arrows, his spear and his
cattle, end kneels before them, repeating a wish that
Mulungu would increase his worldly wealth, that he
would bless his labors and make him successful in trade.
They venerate, and often perform a dance in honor of the
moon.
The following conversation occurred between Stanley
and a Mgogo trader :
" ' Who do you suppose made your parents ?"
" ' Why, Mulungu, white man.'
" ' Well, who made you ?'
" ' If God made my father, God made me, didn't He ?'
" ' That's very good. Where do you suppose your
father has gone to, now that he is dead ?'
" ' The dead die,' said he, solemnly, ' they are no more.
The sultan dies, he becomes nothing — he is then no
better than a dead dog ; he is finished, his words are
finished — there are no words from him. It is true,' he
added, seeing a smile on my face, ' the sultan becomes
nothing. He who says other words is a liar. There.'
" ' But then he is a very great man, is he not ?'
" ' While he lives only — after death he goes into the
pit, and there is no more to be said of him than any other
man.'
" ' How do you bury a Mgogo ?'
" ' His legs are tied together, his right arm to his body,
and his left is put under his head. He is then rolled on
his left side in the grave. His cloth he wore during his
94 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
life is spread over him. We put the earth over him, and
put thorn-bushes over it, to prevent the hyena from
getting at him. A woman is put on her right side in a
grave apart from the man.'
" ' What do you do with the sultan, when he is dead ?"
" ' We bury him, too, of course ; only he is buried in
the middle of the village, and we build a house os^er it.
Each time they kill an ox, they kill before his grave.
When the old sultan dies, the new one calls for an ox,
and kills it before his grave, calling on the Mulungu to
witness that he is the rightful sultan. He then distrib-
utes the meat in his father's name.'
" ' Who succeeds the sultan ? Is he the eldest Son ?'
" ' Yes, if he has a son ; if childless, the great chief
next to him in rank. The msagira is the next to the
sultan, whose business it is to hear the cause of complaint,
and convey it to the sultan, who, through the sultan,
dispenses justice, he receives the honga, carries it to the
sultan, places it before him, and when the sultan has
taken what he wishes, the rest goes to the msagiri. The
chiefs are called manya-para ; the msagiri is the chief
many a- para.'
" ' How do the Wagogo marry ?'
" ' Oh, they buy their women ?'
" ' What is a woman worth ?'
" ' A very poor man can buy his wife from her father
for a couple of goats.'
" 'How much has the sultan got to pay ?'
" ' He has got to pay about one hundred goats, or so
many cows, so many sheep and goats, to his bride's father.
Of course, he is a chief. The sultan would not buy a
common woman. The father's consent is to be obtained,
and the cattle have to be given up. It takes many days
to finish the talk about it. All the family and friends
of the bride have to talk about it before she leaves her
father's house.'
" ' In cases of murder, what do you do to the man that
kills another ?'
" ' The murderer has to pay fifty cows. If he is too
THEIR CODE OP JUSTICE. 95
poor to pay, the sultan gives permission to the murdered
man's friends or relatives to kill him. If they catch him,
they tie him to a tree, and throw spears at him — one at
a time first ; they then spring on him, cut his head off,
then his arms and limbs, and scatter them about the
country.'
" ' How do you punish a thief?'
'If he is found stealing, he is killed at once, and
nothing is said about it. Is he not a thief?'
' But, suppose you do not know who the thief is ?'
' ( If a man is brought before us accused of stealing, we
kill a chicken. If the entrails are white, he is innocent ;
if yellow, he is guilty.'
"'Do you believe in witchcraft?'
" ' Of course we do, and punish the man with death
who bewitches cattle or stops rain.'
"Sacrifices of human life as penalty for witchcraft and
kindred superstitions — indeed for many trivial offences —
are painfully numerous among nearly all the tribes.
"Next to Ugogo is Uyanzi, the Hot Field.
"Uyanzi is at present very populous. Along the
northern route water is plentiful enough, villages are.
frequent and travelers begin to perceive that the title is
inappropriate. The people who inhabit the country are
Wakimbu from the south. They are good agriculturists,
and are a most industrious race. They are something
like the Wasagara in appearance, but do not obtain a
very high reputation for bravery. Their weapons consist
of light spears, bows and arrows, and battle-axes. Their
tembes are strongly made, showing considerable skill in
the art of defensive construction. Their bomas are so
well made, that one would require cannon to effect an
entrance, if their villages were at all defended. They
are skillful, also, in constructing traps for elephants and
buffaloes. A stray lion or leopard is sometimes caught
by then." .
CHAPTER VII.
Reception in Unyanyembe — His House — Reports of the Chiefs of his
Caravans — A Feast — Luxurious Living of the Arabs — Arab Country
— War against Mirambo, in which Stanley becomes an Ally — Is taken
Sick — Bombay Thrashed — Stanley joins the Arab Army — Capture
of Mirambo's Stronghold — Villages laid waste — Mirambo's Revenge
— Arabs Defeated and Stanley Left Alone — Is Sick — Final Departure
— His Indomitable Will and Courage — A Touching Extract from his
Journal — Deserters — Shaw, the last White Man, left Behind —
Corpses on the Road — Mollifies a Sullen Chief — Strong Medicine —
A Ludicrous Scene — The Paradise of Hunters — A Right Royal
Hunt.
O TANLEY received a noiseless ovation in Unyanyem-
kj be as he walked with the governor of his house. Sol-
diers and men, by the hundreds, hovered round their
chief, staring at him, while the naked children peered be-
tween the legs of the parents. Tea was served in a silver
tea-pot,and a sumptuous breakfast furnished, which Stan-
ley devoured only as a hungry man can, who has been
shut up for so many months in the wilds of Africa.
' Then pipes and tobacco were produced, and amid the
whiffs of smoke, came out all the news that Stanley had
brought from Zanzibar, while the gratified sheikh smoked
and listened. When Stanley took his leave to look after
his men his host accompanied him to show him the
house he was to occupy while he remained. It was com-
modious and quite luxurious after his long life in a tent.
All the caravans had arrived, and he received the re-
ports of the chief of each, while the goods were unpacked
and examined. One had had a fight with the natives
and beaten them, another had shot a thief, and the fourth
had lost a bale of goods. On the whole, Stanle}r was
satisfied and thankful there had been co more serious
misfortunes. Food was furnished with lavish prodigality,
and while he was surfeiting himself, he ordered a bullock
to be slain for his men, now reduced to twenty-five in
number.
96
THE A.RAB CHIEFS VISIT STANLEY. 97
On the second day of his arrival, the chief Arabs of
Tabna came to visit him. This is the chief Arab settle-
ment of Central Africa, and contains a thousand huts and
about five thousand inhabitants. The Arabs are a fine,
handsome set of men, and, living amid rich pastures,
raise large herds of cattle and goats, and vegetables of
all kinds, while their slaves bring back in caravans from
Zanzibar, the luxuries of the East, not only coffee, spices,
wines and salmon, etc., but Persian carpets, rich bedding,
with elegant table service. Some of them sport gold
watches and chains. Each one keeps as many concubines
as he can afford — the size of his harem being limited
only by his means.
These magnates from Tabna, after finishing their visit,
invited Stanley to visit their town and partake of a feast
they had prepared for him. Three days after, escorted
by eighteen of his men, he returned the visit. He arrived
in time to attend a council of war which was being held,
as to the best manner of asserting their rights against a
robber-chief named Mirambo. He had carried war
through several tribes and claimed the right to waylay
and rob Arab caravans. This must be stopped, and it
was resolved to make war against him in his stronghold.
Stanley agreed to accompany them, taking his caravan
a part of the way and leaving it until Mirambo was de-
feated, and the way to Ujiji cleared.
Returning to Unyanyembe, he found the caravan
which had been made up to carry supplies to Livingstone
on November 1st, 1870. Having gone twenty-five miles
from Zanzibar, to Bagomayo, it had stayed there one
hundred days, when, hearing that the English consul was
coming,had started off in affright just previous to Stanley.
Whether owing to his great change in diet or some
other cause, Stanley was now stricken down with fever,
and for a week tossed in delirium. Selim, his faithful
servant, took care of him. When he had recovered, the
latter was seized with it.
But by the 29th of July, all the sick had recovered,
and the caravan was loaded up for Ujiji. But Bombay
98 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
was absent and they had to wait from eight o'clock till
two in the afternoon, he stubbornly refusing to leave his
mistress. When he arrived and was ordered to his place
he made a savage reply. The next moment Stanley's
cane was falling like lightning on his shoulders. The
poor fellow soon cried for mercy. The order "March"
was then given, and the guide, with forty armed men
behind him, led off, with flags streaming. At first in
dead silence, they moved on, but soon struck up a mon-
otonous sort of chorus, which seemed to consist mostly
of "Hoy, Hoy," and was kept up all day. The second
day, he arrived at Masangi, where he was told the Arabs
were waiting for him at Mfuto, six hours' march distant.
The next morning, he arrived at the place where the Arab
army was gathered, numbering in all two thousand two
hundred and twenty-five men; of these, fifteen hundred
were armed with guns. With banners flying and drums
beating, they, on the 3rd of August, marched forth, but
in a few hours, Stanley was stricken down with fever.
The next day, however, the march was resumed, and at
eleven o'clock, Zimbize, the stronghold of the enemy, came
in view. The forces quickly surrounded it. A general
assault followed and the village was captured, the inhab-
itants fleeing towards the mountains, pursued closely by
the yelling Arabs. Only twenty dead bodies were found
within. The next day, two more villages were burned,
and the day after, a detachment of five hundred strong
scoured the country around, carrying devastation and
ruin in their path. At this critical period of the cam-
paign, Stanley was again taken down with fever, and
while he lay in his hammock, news came that the detach-
ment of five hundi'ed men had been surprised and killed.
Mirambo had turned and ambushed them, and now the
boasting of the morning was turned into despondency.
The women made the night hideous with shrieks and
lamentations over their slain husbands. The next day
there was a regular stampede of the Arabs, and when
Stanley was able to get out of his tent only seven men
were left to him — ail the rest had returned to Mfuto, and
REPORT OF FARQUHAR'S DEATH. 99
soon after to Tabna, twenty-five miles distant. It was
plain that it was useless to open the direct road to Ujiji,
which lay through Mirambo's district. In fact, it seemed
impossible to get there at all, and the only course left
open was to return to the coast and abandon the project
of reaching Livingstone altogether. But what would
Livingstone do locked up at Ujiji ? He might perhaps
go north and meet Baker, who was moving, with a strong
force, southward. But he was told by a man that Living-
stone was coming to Nyano Lake toward the Tanganika,
on which Ujiji is situated, at the very time it was last
reported he was murdered. He was then walking,
dressed in American sheeting, having lost all his cloth in
Lake Leemba. He had a breech-loading double-barreled
rifle with him and two revolvers. Stanley felt that he
could not give up trying to reach him, now it was so
probable that he was within four hundred miles of him.
On the 13th, a caravan came in from the east and re-
ported Farquhar dead at the place where he had left
him. Ten days after, Mirambo attacked Tabna and set
it on fire- Stanley, at this time, was encamped at
Kwihara, and in sight of the burning town. The re-
fugees came pouring in, and Stanley, finding the men
willing to stand by him, began to prepare for defense,
and counting up his little force, found he had one hun-
dred and fifty men. He was not attacked, however, and
five days after, Mirambo retreated. The Arabs held
councils of war, and urged Stanley to become their ally,
but he refused, and finally took the bold resolution of
organizing a flying caravan, and by a southern route
and quick marching, reach Ujiji. This was August
27th, and the third month he had been in Unyanyembe.
Having got together some forty men in all, he gave a
great banquet to them prior to their departure, but an
attack of fever caused him to postpone it But, on the
20th of September, though too weak to travel, he mus-
tered his entire force outside the town, and found that,
by additional men which the Arabs had succeeded in
securing, it now numbered fifty-four men. When all
100 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
was ready, Bombay was again missing, and when found
and brought up, excused himself, as of old, by saying he
was bidding his "misses" good-bye. As he seemed in-
clined to pick a quarrel with Stanley, the latter not
being in the most amiable mood, and wishing to teach
the others a lesson, gave him a sound thrashing.
Soon, everything being ready, the word "march"
passed down the line, and Stanley started on his last
desperate attempt to push on to Ujiji — not much farther
than from Toronto to Montreal as the crow flies — but by
the way he would be compelled to go, no one knew how
far, nor what time it would take to reach it. But Stanley
had good reason to believe that Livingstone was alive,
and from the reports he could get of his movements,
must this time be at or near Ujiji, and therefore to Ujiji
he was determined to go, unless death stopped his pro-
gress. He had been sent on a mission, and although the
conditions were not that he should surmount impossi-
bilities, he would come as near to it as human effort
could approach. Though sick with fever, and with that
prostration and utter loss of will accompanying it, he,
nevertheless, with that marvelous energy that is never
exhibited except in rare exceptional characters, kept his
great object in view. That never lost its hold on him
under the most disastrous circumstances — neither in the
delirium of fever nor in the utter prostration that fol-
lowed it. This tenacity of purpose and indomitable will
ruling and governing him, where in all other men it
would have had no power, exhibit the extraordinary
qualities of this extraordinary man. We do not believe
that he himself was fully aware of this inherent power,
this fixedness of purpose that makes him different from
all other men. No man possessing it is conscious of it
any more than an utterly fearless man is conscious of
his own courage. The following touching extract from
his journal at this time lets in a flood of light on the
character and the inner life of this remarkable man:
"About 10 p.m., the fever had gone. All were asleep
in the tembe but myself, and an unutterable loneliness
STANLEY'S TENACITY OF PURPOSE. 101
came on as I reflected on my position, and my intentions,
and felt the utter lack of sympathy with me in all
around. Even my own white assistant, with whom I
had striven hard, was less sympathizing than my little
black boy Kalulu. It requires more nerve than I possess
to dispel all the dark presentiments that come upon the
mind. But, probably, what I call presentiments are
simply the impress on the mind of the warnings which
these false-hearted Arabs have repeated so often. This
melancholy and loneliness which I feel, may probably
have their origin from the same cause. The single
candle which barely lights up the dark shade which fills
the corners of my room, is but a poor incentive to cheer-
fulness. I feel as though I were imprisoned between
stone walls. But why should I feel as if baited by
these stupid, slow-witted Arabs, and their warnings
and croakings ? I fancy a suspicion haunts my mind,
as I write, that there lies some motive behind all
this.
" I wonder if these Arabs tell me all these things to
keep me here, in the hope that I may be induced another
time to assist them in their war against Mirambo! If
they think so, they are much mistaken, for I have taken
a solemn, enduring oath — an oath to be kept while the
least hope of life remains in me — not to be tempted to
break the resolution I have formed, never to give up the
search until I find Livingstone alive, or find his dead
body; and never to return home without the strongest
possible proofs that he is alive or that he is dead. No
living man or living men shall stop me — only death can
prevent me. But death — not even this; I shall not die
—I will not die — I cannot die!
"And something tells me, I do not know what it is —
perhaps it is the everliving hopefulness of my own na-
ture; perhaps it is the natural presumption born out of
an abundant and glowing vitality, or the outcome of an
over- weening confidence in one's-self — anyhow and
everyhow, something tells me to-night I shall find him,
and — write it larger — FIND HIM! FIND HIM! Even the
102 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
words are inspiring. I feel more happy. Have I uttered
a prayer ? I shall sleep calmly to-night."
There is nothing in this whole terrible journey so
touching, and revealing so much, as this extract from his
journal does. It shows that he is human, and yet far
above common human weakness. Beset with difficul-
ties, his only white companion dead or about to be left
behind, the Arabs themselves and the natives telling
him he cannot go on, left all alone in a hostile country,
his men deserting him, he pauses and ponders. To make
all these outer conditions darker, he is smitten down
with fever that saps the energies, unnerves the heart and
fills the imagination with gloomy forebodings, and makes
the soul sigh for rest. It is the lowest pit of despond-'
ency into which a man may be cast. He feels it, and
all alone, fever worn and sad, he surveys the prospect
before him. There is not a single soul on which to lean
— not a sympathizing heart to turn to while fever is
burning up his brain, and night, moonless and starless,
is setting down around him. He would be less than
human not to feel the desolation of his position, and for
a moment sink under this accumulation of disastrous
circumstances. He does feel how utterly hopeless and
sad is his condition; and all through the first part of
this entry in his journal, there is something that sounds
like a mournful refrain — yet, at its close, out of his
gloomy surroundings, up from his feverish bed speaks
the brave heart in trumpet tones, showing the indomit-
able will that nothing can break, crying out of the all-
enveloping gloom,, "no living man or living men shall
stop me — only death can prevent me." There spoke one
of the few great natures God has made. The closing-
words of that entry in his journal ring like a bugle-note
from his sick-bed, and foretell his triumph.
But, at last, they were off. Shaw, the last white man
left to Stanley, had been sick, and apparently indifferent
whether he lived or died ; but all, after a short march,
became enlivened, and things looked more promising.
But Stanley was again taken sick with the fever ; the
TWENTY MEN DESERT. 103
men began to be discouraged. Staggering from his sick-
bed, he found that twenty of his men had deserted.
Aroused at this new danger, h.3 instantly dispatched
twenty men after them, while he sent his faithful fol-
lower, Selim, to an Arab chief to borrow a long slave-
chain. At night, the messengers returned with nine of
the missing men. Stanley then told them that he had
never used the slave-chain, but nrw he should on the
first deserters. He had resolved to go to Ujiji, where he
believed Dr. Livingstone was, and being so near the
accomplishment of the mission he was sent on, he was
ready to resort to any measures rather than fail. Deferr-
ing the use of the chain at present, he started forward
and encamped at Iresaka. In the morning, two more
men were missing. Irritated but determined, this reso-
lute man halted, sent back for the fugitives, caught them,
and when brought back, flogged them severely and chained
them. Notwithstanding this severe treatment, the next
morning another man deserted, while, to add to his per-
plexities and enhance the difficulties that surrounded
him, a man who had accompanied him all the way from
the coast asked to be discharged, while several others of
the expedition were taken sick and unable to proceed;
and it seemed, notwithstanding the resolute will of the
leader, that the expedition must break up. But, fortun-
ately, that evening men who had been in caravans to the
coast entered the village where they were encamped,
with wondrous stories of what they had seen on the
coast, which revived the spirits of all, and the next morn-
ing they started off, and after three hours' march through
the forest came to Kigandu. Shaw, the last white man
now left to him, between real and feigned sickness, had
become such a burden, that he determined to leave him
behind, as the latter had often requested to be.
That night, the poor wretch played on an old accordion
"Home, Sweet Home," which, miserable as it was, stirred
the depths of Stanley's heart, now about to be left alone
amid Arabs and natives in the most desperate part of his
undertaking. But it could not be helped — speed was
104- KXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
now everything on this new route, or Mirambo would
close it also. !So on the morning of the 27th, he ordered
the horn to sound "get ready," and Shaw being sent
back to Kwihara, set off on his southern unknown route
to Ujiji with his caravan, and entered the dark forests
and pressed rapidly forward, and in seven hours reached
the village of Ugunda, numbering two thousand souls.
It was well fortified against the robber, Mirambo. Around
the principal village, some three thousand square acres
were under cultivation, giving them not only all the
provisions they wanted for their own use,but also enough
for passing caravans, besides furnishing carriers for those
in want of them. On the 28th, they arrived at a small
village well supplied with corn, and the next day reached
Kikuru, a place impregnated with the most deadly of
African fevers. Over desert plains, now sheering on one
side to avoid the corpse of a man dead from the small-
pox, the scourge of Africa, and now stumbling on a skel-
eton, the caravan kept on till they came to the cultivated
fields of Manyara. A wilderness one hundred and thirty-
five miles in extent stretched out before them from this
place, and Stanley was inclined to be very conciliatory
toward the chief of the village, in order to get provisions
for the long and desperate march before him. But the
chief was very sullen and wholly indifferent to the pre-
sents the white man offered him. With adroit diplomacy,
Stanley sent to him some magnificent royal cloths, which
so mollified the chief that abundant provisions were soon
sent in, followed by the chief himself with fifty warriors
bearing gifts quite equal to those which Stanley sent
him, and they entered the tent of the first white man
they had ever seen. Looking at him for some time in
silent surprise, the chiefs burst into an incontrollable fit
of laughter, accompanied with snapping their fingers.
But when they were shown the sixteen-shooters and
revolvers their astonishment knew no bounds, while the
double-barreled guns, heavily charged, made them jump
to their feet with alarm, followed by convulsions of
laughter. Stanley then showed 'them his chest of medi-
mm *
ft
~
X
uf
THE HUNTER'S PARADISE. 107
cine, and finally gave them a dose in the form of brandy.
They tasted it, making wry faces, when he produced a
bottle of concentrated ammonia, saying it was for snake
bites. One of the chiefs asked for some of it. It was
suddenly presented to his nose, when his features under-
went such indescribable contortions that the other chiefs
burst into convulsions of laughter, clapped their hands,
pinched each other and went through all sorts of ludicrous
gesticulations. When the chief recovered himself, the
tears in the meanwhile rolling down his cheeks, he
laughed and simply said, " strong medicine." The
others then took a sniff and went off into paroxysms of
laughter.
Wednesday, October 4th, found them traveling toward
the Gombe River. They had hardly left the waving
corn-fields, when they carne in sight of a large herd of
zebras. Passing on, the open forest resembled a mag-
nificent park, filled with buffalo, zebra, giraffe, antelope
and other tropical animals, (see illustrations) while the
scenery on every side was entrancing. These noble
animals, coursing in their wild freedom through those
grand, primeval forests, presented a magnificent sight.
Stanley, thoroughly aroused, crept back to his camp,
which had been pitched on the Gombe River, and pre-
pared for- a right royal hunt. He says :
" Here, at last, was the hunter's paradise ! How petty
and insignificant appeared my hunts after small antelope
and wild boar ; what a foolish waste of energies, those
long walks through damp grasses and thorny jungles.
Did I not well remember my first bitter experience in
African jungles, when in the maritime region? Butthis
— where is the nobleman's park that can match this scene?
Here is a soft, velvety expanse of young grass, grateful
shade under close, spreading clumps, herds of large and
varied game browsing within easy rifle-shot. Surely I
must feel amply compensated now for the long southern
detour I have made, when such a prospect as this opens
to the view ! No thorny jungles and rank-smelling
swamps are to daunt the hunter, and to sicken his aspir-
108 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ations after true sport. No hunter could aspire after a
nobler field to display his prowess.
" Having settled the position of the camp, which over-
looked one of the pools found in the depression of the
Gombe Creek, I took my double-barreled smooth bore,
and sauntered off to the park-land. I first sighted a fine
troop of Elands with their heads down feeding on the
tall grass. But before I arrived near enough to fire, a
large leopard sprangupon the neck of one and frightened
the whole troop away atarapidpace. Soon after emerging
from behind a clump, tnreefine, plump spring-bok were seen
browsing on the young grass just within one hundred
yards. I knelt down and fired ; one unfortunate ante-
lope bounded forward instinctively and fell dead. Its
companions sprang high into the air, taking leaps about
twelve feet in length, as if they were quadrupeds prac-
tising gymnastics, and away they vanished, rising up
like India-rubber balls, until a knoll hid them from my
view. My success was hailed with loud shouts by the
soldiers, who came running out from the camp as soon
as they heard the reverberation of the gun, and my gun-
bearer had his knife at the throat of the beast, uttering
a fervent 'Bismillah'as he almost severed the head from
the body.
"Hunters were now directed to proceed east and north
to procure meat, because in each caravan it generally
happens that there are fundi whose special trade is to
hunt for meat for the camp. Some of these are experts
in stalking, but often find themselves in dangerous pos-
itions, owing to the near approach neccessary before they
can fire their most inaccurate weapons with any certainty.
"After luncheon, consisting of spring-bok steak, hot
corn-cake and a cup of Mocha coffee, I strolled toward
the south-west, accompanied by Kalulu and Majwara,
two boy gun-bearers. The tiny perpusilla started up
like rabbits from me as I stole along through the under-
brush ; the honey-bird hopped from tree to tree chirping
its call, as if it thought 1 was seeking the little sweet
treasure, the hiding place of which it only knew ; but,
SHOOTING A ZEBRA. 109
no! I neither desired perpusilla nor the honey. I was
on the search for something great this day. Keen-eyed
fish-eagles and bustards poised on trees above the sinu-
ous Goinbe thought, and probably with good reason, that
I was after them-, judging by the ready flight with which
both species disappeared as they sighted my approach.
Ah, no! nothing but harte beest, zebra, giraffe, eland and
buffalo this day.
"After following the Gombe's course for about a mile,
delighting my eyes with long looks at the broad and
lengthy reaches of water, to which I was so longa stranger,
I came upon a scene which delighted the innermost
recesses of my soul ; five, six, seven, eight, ten zebras
switching their beautiful striped bodies, and biting one
another, within about one hundred and fifty yards. The
scene was so pretty, so romantic, never did I so thoroughly
realize that I was in Central Africa. Mine they were,
without money and without price ; yet, knowing this,
twice I dropped my rifle, loath to wound the royal beasts,
but — crack ! and a royal one was on his back, battling
the air with his legs. Ah, it was such a pity ! but hasten,
draw the keen, sharp-edged knife across the beautiful
stripes which fold around the throat, and — what an ugly
gash ! it is done, and I have a superb animal at my feet.
Hurrah ! I shall taste of zebra to-night.
" I thought a spring bok and zebra enough for one
day's sport, especially after a long march. The Gonibe,
a long stretch of deep water, winding in and out of green
groves, calm, placid, with lotus leaves resting lightly on
its surface, all pretty, picturesque, peaceful as a summer's
dream, looked very inviting for a bath. I sought out
the most shady spot under a wide-spreading mimosa,
from which the ground sloped smooth as a lawn to the
still, clear water. I ventured to undress and had already
stepped to my ankles in the water, and had brought my
hands together for a glorious dive, when my attention
was attracted by an enormously long body which shot
into view, occupying the spot beneath the surface which
I was about to explore by a ' header.' Great heavens,
110 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
it was a crocodile ! I sprang back instinctively, and this
proved my salvation, for the monster turned away with
the most disappointed look, and I was left to congratulate
myself upon my narrow escape from his jaws, and to
register a vow never to be tempted again by the treach-
erous calm of an African river."
CHAPTER VIII.
A Beautiful Picture — A Mutiny — Narrow Escape of Stanley — Saved by
His Prompt Courage — Swift Punishment of the leaders of the
Mutiny — Exciting News from Ujiji — Difficulties in the Way — Re-
solves to go Round the next Village — Stealthy Marching — A New
Danger — Vain Attempt to Stop a Woman Screaming — Rapid March-
ing — Stanley Startled by the Sound of Waves Bursting in Rocky
Caverns — An Unexpected Danger — Narrow Escape — The End Ap-
proaches — Hurrah .
following extract from his journal, written up
JL that night, shows that this strong, determined,
fearless man was not merely a courageous lion, but
possessed, also, the eye of an artist and the soul of a
poet. With a few strokes of his pen, he sketches a
picture on the banks of the forest-lined river, full of life
and beauty;-
" The adventures of the day were over; the azure of
the sky had changed to a deep gray; the moon was ap-
pearing just over the trees; the water of the Gombe was
like a silver belt; hoarse frogs bellowed their notes
loudly by the margin of the creek; the fish-eagles
uttered their dirge-like cries as they were perched high
on the tallest trees; elands snorted their warning to the
herd in the forest ; stealthy forms of the carnivora stole
through the dark woods outside of our camp. Within
the high inclosure of the bush and thorn which we had
raised about our camp, all was jollity, laughter and
radiant, genial comfort. Around every camp-fire, dark
forms of men were seen squatted : one man gnawed at a
luscious bone; another sucked the rich marrow in a
zebra's leg bone ; another turned the stick, garnished with
huge kabobs, to the bright blaze; another held a large rib
over a flame; there were others busy stirring, industri-
ously, great black potfuls of ugali, and watching anxi-
ously the meat simmering, and the soup bubbling, while
the firelight flickered and danced bravely, and cast a
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bright glow ever the naked forms of the men, and gave
a crimson tinge to the tall tent that rose in the centre
of the camp, like a temple sacred to some mysterious
god; the fires cast their reflections upon the massive
arms of the trees, as they branched over our camp; and
in the dark gloom of their foliage, the most fantastic
shadows were visible. Altogether, it was a wild, ro-
mantic and impressive scene."
They halted here for two days, the men hunting and
gormandizing. Like all animals, after gorging them-
selves they did not want to move, and when, on the
7th of October, Stanley ordered the caravan to be put
in motion, the men refused to stir. Stanley at once
walked swiftly toward them with his double-barreled
gun, loaded with buck shot, in his hand. As he did so
he saw the men seize their guns. He, however, kept
resolutely on till within thirty yards of two men, whose
heads were peering above an ant-hill, with their guns
pointed across the road — then suddenly halting, he took
deliberate aim at them, determined, come what would, to
blow out their brains. One of them, a giant, named
Azmani, instantly brought up his gun with his finger on
the trigger. " Drop that gun or you are a dead man,"
shouted Stanley. They obeyed and came forward, but
he saw that murder was in Azmani's eyes. The other
man, at the second order, laid down his gun, and, with
a blow from Stanley that sent him reeling away, sneaked
off. But the giant, Azmani, refused to obey, and Stanley
aiming his piece at his head and touching the trigger
was about to tire. The former quickly lifted Ttiis gun up
to his shoulder to shoot. In another second he would
have fallen dead at Stanley's feet. At this moment an
Arab, who had approached from behind, struck up the
wretch's gun and exclaimed, "Man, how dare you point
your gun at the master?" This saved his life, and per-
haps Stanley's also. It requires nerves of iron in a man
thus to stand up all alone in the heart of an African
forest surrounded by savages and defy them all, and cow
them all. But the trouble was over, peace was concluded,
NEWS FROM UJIJI. 113
and the men with one accord agreed to go on. The two
instigators of this mutiny were Bombay and a savage,
named Ambari. Snatching up a spear Stanley immedi-
ately gave the former a terrible pounding with the
handle. Then turning on the latter, who stood looking
on with a mocking face, he administered the same pun-
ishment to him — after which he put them both in
chains.
For the next fourteen days, nothing remarkable oc-
curred in the march, which had been in a south-westerly
direction. Near a place called Mrera, Stanley, for the
first time, saw a herd of wild elephants, and was deeply
impressed with their lordly appearance. Here Selim
was taken sick, and the caravan halted for three days,
Stanley spending the interval in mending his shoes.
He now had four districts to traverse, which would
occupy him twenty-five days. Taking a north-westerly
route having, as he thought, got around the country of
Mirambo, he turned north-westerly and pushed forward
with all speed. Buffaloes, leopards and ^lions were
encountered ; the country was diversified, and many of
the petty chiefs grasping and unfriendly, so that it was
a constant, long wearisome fight with obstacles from the
beginning to the end of each week. But, on November
3rd, a caraven of eighty came into Stanley's camp from
the westward. The latter asked the news. They re-
plied that a white man had just arrived at Ujiji. This
was startling news indeed.
"A white man!" exclaimed Stanley.
" Yes, a white man."
" How is he dressed ?"
" Like the master," pointing to him.
" Is he young or old ?"
" He is old, with white hair on his face ; and he is
sick."
"Where has he come from ?" was the next anxious in-
quiry.
"From a very far country, away beyond Uguhha."
"Aud is he now stopping at Ujiji ?"
EXPLORATIONS IN THE \VILDS OF AFRICA.
" Yes, we left him there eight days
" How long is he going to stay there ?"
"Don't know."
" Was he ever there before ?"
"Yes ; he went away a long time ago."
Stanley gave a shout of exultation exclaiming: "It
is Livingstone !"
Then came the thought, it may be some other man.
Perhaps it is Baker, who has worked his way in there
before me. It was a crushing thought, that after all his
sufferings, and sickness, and toils, he should have been
anticipated, and there was now nothing left for him to
do but march back again. So he exclaimed to himself:
" Baker has no white hair on his face." But he could
now wait no longer, and turning to his men, he asked
them if they were willing to march to Ujiji without a
single halt. If they would, he would, on their arrival,
present each two doti of cloth. They all shouted yes.
Stanley jots down: " I was madly rejoiced, intensely eager
to resolve the burning question, ' Is it Dr. Livingstone ?'
God grant me patience ; but I do wish there was a rail-
road, or at least, horses, in this country. With a horse I
could reach him in twelve hours "
But new dangers confronted him. The chiefs became
more exorbitant in their demands and more hostile in
their demonstrations, and but for Stanley's eagerness to
get on/he would more than once have fought his way
through some of those pertinacious tribes. But his
patience, at last, gave out, for he was told after he had
settled the last tribute that there were five more chiefs
ahead who would exact tribute. This would beggar
him, and he asked two of the natives if there was no
way of evading the next chief, named Wahha.
"This rather astonished them at first, and they de-
clared it to be impossible; but, finally, after being
pressed, they replied that one of their number should
guide us at midnight, or a little after, into the jungle
which grew on the frontiers of Uhha and Uvinza
By keeping a direct west course through this jungle
FRESH DIFFICULTIES. 115
until we came to Ukavanga, we might be enabled — we
were told — to travel through TThrta without further
trouble. If I were willing to pay the guide twelve doti,
and if I were able to impose silence on my people while
passing through the sleeping village, the guide was posi-
tive I could reach Ujiji without paying another doti.
It is needless to add that I accepted the proffered assist-
ance at such a price with joy.
"But there was much to be done. Provisions were to
be purchased, sufficient to last four days, for the tramp
through the jungle, and men were at once sent with cloth
to purchase grain at any price. Fortune favored us, for,
before 8 P.M. we had enough for six days.
"November 7th. — I did not go t->> sleep at all last night,
but a little after midnight, as the moon was beginning to
show itself, by gangs of four the men stole quietly out of
the village ; and by 3 A.M. the entire expedition was
outside the bonna and not the slightest alarm had been
made. After whistling to the new guide, the expedition
began to move in a southern direction along the right
bank of the Kanenzi River. After an hour's inarch in
this direction, we struck west across the grassy plain,
and maintained it, despite the obstacles we encountered,
which were sore enough to naked men. The bright
moon lighted our path ; dark clouds now and then cast
immense long shadows over the deserted and silent plain,
and the moonbeams were almost obscured, and at such
times our position seemed awful —
" ' Till the moon,
Rising in c'ouded majesty, at length,
Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.'
" Bravely toiled the men, without murmur, though
their legs were bleeding from the cruel grass. ' Ambro-
sial morn' at last appeared with all its beautiful and
lovely features. Heaven was born anew to us, with
comforting omens and cheery promise. The men,
though fatigued at the unusual travel, sped forward with,
quicker pace as daylight broke, until, at 8 A.M., we
Ii6 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
sighted the swift Rnsngi River, when a halt was ordered
in a clump of jungle near it, for breakfast and rest.
Both banks of the river were alive with buffalo, eland
and antelope, but though the sight was very tempting,
we did not fire, because we dared hot. The report of a
gun would have alarmed the whole country. I preferred
my coffee, and the contentment which my mind experi-
enced at our success.
"An hour after we had rested, some natives carrying
salt from the Malagarazi were seen coining up the right
bank of the river. When abreast of our hiding-place
they detected us, and dropping their salt-bags, they took
to their heels at once, shouting out as they ran, to alarm
some villages that appeared some fourmilep north of us.
The men were immediately ordered to take up their
loads, and in a few minutes we had crossed the Rusugi,
and were making direct for a bamboo jungle that appear-
ed in our front. Almo&t as soon as we entered, a weak-
brained woman raised a series of piercing yells. The
men were appalled at this noisy demonstration, which
would call down upon our heads the vengeance
of the Wahha for evading the tribute, to which they
thought themselves entitlrd. In half an hour we should
have hundreds of howling savages about us in the jungle,
and probably a general massacre would ensue. The
woman screamed fearfully again and again, for no cause
whatever. Some of the men, with the instinct of self-
preservation, at once dropped their bales and loads and
vanished into the jungle. The guide came rushing back
to me, imploring me to stop her noise. The woman's
husband, livid with rage and fear, drew his sword and
asked permission to cut her head off at once. Had I
given the least signal, the woman had paid with her life
for her folly. I attempted to hush her cries by putting
my hand over her mouth, but she violently wrestled with
me, and continued her cries worse than ever. There
remained nothing else for me to do, but try the virtue
of my whip over her shoulders. I asked her to desist
after the tirst blow 'No!' She continued her insane
t -ries with increased force and volume. Again my whip
AN UNEXPECTED DANGER.
descended on her shoulders. ' No, no, no.' Another
blow. ' Will you hush ?' ' No, no, no,' louder and louder
she cried, and faster and faster I showered the blows for
the taming of this shrr>w. However, seeing I was as
determined to flog as she was to cry, she desisted before
the tenth blow and became silent. A cloth was folded
over her mouth, and her arms were tied behind her; and
in a few moments, the runaways having returned to
their duty, the expedition moved forward again with
redoubled pace."
That night they encamped at Lake Musunya, which
swarmed with hippopotami. No tent nor hut was raised,
nor fire kindled, and Stanley lay down with his rifle
slung over his shoulders, ready to act on a moment's
notice. Before daylight they were off again, and at
early dawn emerged from the jungle and stretched
rapidly across a naked plain. Reaching the Rugufa
River, they halted in a deep shade, when suddenly
Stanley heard a sound like distant thunder. Asking
one of his men if it were thunder, the latter replied no,
that it was the noise made by the waves of Tanganika
breaking into the caverns of a mountain on its shore.
Was he, indeed, so near this great inland sea, of which
Ujiji was the chief harbor?
Pressing on three hours longer they encamped in the
forest. Two hours before da v light they again set out,
the guide promising that by next morning they should
be clear of the hostile district. On this Stanley exclaims,
"Patience, my soul ! A few hours more and then the
end of all this will be known. I shall be face to face
with that white man with the white beard on his face,
whoever he may be." Before daylight they started
again, and emerging from the forest on to the high road,
the guides, thinking they had passed the last village of
the hostile tribe, set up a shout, but soon, to their hor-
ror, came plump upon its outskirts. Fate seemed about
to desert him at the last moment, for if the village was
roused he was a doomed man. Keeping concealed amid
the trees, Stanley ordered the goats to be killed lest
their bleating should lead to their discovery, the chickens
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
to be killed also, and then plunged into the jungle,
Stanley being the last man to follow. It was a narrow
escape. After an half-hour's maich, finding they were
not pursued, they again took to the road. One more
night in the encampment and then the end would come.
Next morning they push on with redoubled speed, and,
in two hours, from the top of a mountain he beholds
with bounding heart the Lake Tanganika ; a vast ex-
panse of burnished silver with the dark mountains
around it and the blue sky above it. "Hurrah," shouts
Stanley, and the natives take up the shout, till the hills
and forest ring with their exultant cries. The long
struggle was nearly over; the goal toward which he had
been so long straining almost won.
CHAPTER IX.
T 11HE excitement that Stanley felt at this supreme
JL moment of his life can never be described or even
imagined. When he started from Zanzibar, he knew he
had thrown the die which was to fix his fate. Success-
ful, and his fame was secure, while failure meant death,
and all the chances against him. How much he had
taken upon himself no one but he knew; into what
gloomy gulfs he had looked before he started, he alone
was conscious. Of the risks he ran, of the narrow
escapes he had made, of the toils and sufferings he had
endured, he alone could estimate them. With the accu-
mulation of difficulties — with the increasing darkness of
his prospects, the one great object of his mission had in-
creased in importance, till great as it was, became un-
naturally magnified so that, at last, it filled all his vision,
and became the one, the great, the only object in life
worth pursuing. For it he had risked so much, toiled
so long and suffered so terribly, that the whole world,
VIEW OF THE TANGANIKA.
with all its interests, was secondary to it. Hope had
given way to disappointment and disappointment yield-
ed to despair so often, that his strong nature had got
keyed up to a dangerous pitch. But now the reward
was near ; and Balboa, when alone he ascended the soli-
tary summit that was to give him a sight of the new,
the hitherto unknown, the great Pacific Ocean, was not
.more intensely excited than Stanley was when he labor-
ed up the steep mountain that should give him a view
of the Tanganika.
The joy, the exultation of that moment, outbalanced a
life of common happiness. It was a feeling that lifts the
soul into a region where our common human nature
never goes, and it becomes a memory that influences and
shapes the character forever. Such a moment of ecstasy
— of perfect satisfaction — of exultant triumphant feeling
that asks nothing better — that brings perfect rest with
the highest exaltation, can never happen to a man but
once in a life-time, and not to one in ten millions of men.
To attempt to give any description of this culmination
of all his efforts, and longings, and ambition, except in
his own words, would be not only an act of injustice to
him, but to the reader.
The descent to Ujiji and the interview with Living-
stone is full of dramatic interest and should not be given,
except in his own words. To attempt to improve on it
would be presumption and would end only in failure,
and we, therefore, give it in Mr. Stanley's own words,
that glow with vivid life from beginning to end, and this
shall be his chapter :
" We are descending the western slope of the moun-
tain, with the valley of the Linche before us. Some-
thing like an hour before noon we have gained the thick
matite brake, which grows on both banks of the river;
we wade through the clear stream, arrive on the other
side, emerge out of the brake, and the gardens of the
\Vajiji are around us — a perfect marvel of vegetable
wealth. Details escape my hasty and partial observa-
tion. I am almost overpowered with my own emotion.
1£0 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFUICA.
I notice the graceful palms, neat plats, green with vege-
table plants, and small villages, surrounded with frail
fences of the matite cane.
" We push on rapidly, lest the news of our coming
might reach the people of Bunder Ujiji before we come
in sight and are ready for them. We halt at a little
brook, then ascend the long slope of a naked ridge, the
very last of the myriads we have crossed. This alone
prevents us from seeing the lake in all its vastness. We
arrive at the summit, travel across and arrive at its west-
ern rim, and — pause, reader — the port of Ujiji is below
us, embowered in the palms, only five hundred yards
from us. At this grand moment we do not think of the
hundreds of miles we have marched, of the hundreds of
hills we have ascended and descended, ot the many
forests we have traversed, of the jungles and thickets
that annoyed us, of the fervid salt plains that blistered
our feet, of the hot suns that scorched us, nor the dangers
and difficulties now happily surmounted. At last the
sublime hour has arrived! our dreams, our hopes, our
anticipations are about to be realized. Our hearts and
our feelings are with our eyes,aswepeer into the pahnsand
try to make out in which hut or house lives the white man
with the gray beard, we heard about on the Malagarazi.
"'Unfurl the flags and load the guns.'
" 'Ay, Wallah, ay, Wallah, bana ! responded the men,
eagerly.
" 'One — two — three — fire.'
" A volley from nearly fifty guns roars like a salute
from a battery of artillery ; we shall note its effect,
presently, on the peaceful-looking village below.
"'Now, Kirangazi, hold the white man's flag up high,
and let the Zanzibar flag bring up the rear. And you
men keep close together, and keep firing until we halt
in the market place, or before the white man's house.
You have said to me often that you could smell the fish
of the Tanganika. I can smell the fish of the Tanganika
now. There are fish, and beer, and a long rest awaiting
for you. MARCH !'
THE AMERICAN FLAG. 121
" Before we had gone one hundred yards our repeated
volleys had the desired effect. We had awakened Ujiji
to the tact that a caravan was coming, and the people
were witnessed rushing up in hundreds to meet us. The
mere sight of the flags informed every one immediately
that we were a cam van, but the American flag, borne
aloft by the gigantic Asmani, whose face was one broad
smile on this day, rather staggered them at first. How-
ever, many of the people who now approached us
remembered the fi>ig. They had seen it float above the
American consulate, and from the mast-heads of many a
ship in the harbor of Zanzibar, and they were soon heard
welcoming the beautiful flag with cries of ' Bindera Kis-
ungu !' — a white man's flag ! ' Bindera Mericani !' — the
American flag !
" Then we were surrounded by them — by Wajiji, Wan-
yamzi, Wangwana, Warundi, Waguhha, Wamanyuema
and Arabs, and were almost deafened with the shout of
' Yambo, yambo, bona ! Yambo bona, Yambo bona !' To
all and each of my men the welcome was given.
" We were now about three hundred yards from the
village of Ujiji, and the crowds are dense about ine.
Suddenly I hear a voice on my right say : ' Good morn-
ing, sir !'
" Startled at hearing this greeting in the midst of such
a crowd of black people, I turn sharply around in search
of the man, and see him at my side with the blackest of
faces, but animated and joyous — a man dressed in a
long white shirt, with a turban of American sheeting
around his wooly head, and I ask : ' Who the mischief
are you ?'
"'I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone,' said he,
smiling and showing a gleaming row of teeth.
" 'What ! is Dr. Livingstone here ?'
"'Yes, sir.'
"'In this village?'
" ' Yes, sir.'
" ' Are you sure ?'
" ' Sure, sure, sir. Why I just left him.*
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
" ' Good-morning, sir,' said another voice
" ' Hallo,' said I, ' is this another one ?'
" ' Yes, sir."
" ' Well, what is your name ?'
" ' My name is Chuiuah, sir.'
" ' What are you, Chumali, the friend of Wekotani Y
" ' Yes, sir.'
" ' And is the doctor well ?'
" ' Not very well, sir.'
" ' Where has he been so long ?'
" ' In Mauyuema.'
" ' Now you, Susi, run and tell the doctor I am com-
ing.'
" ' Yes, sir,' and off he darted like a madman.
" By this time we were within two hundred yards of
the village, and the multitude was getting denser, and
almost preventing our march. Fla^s and streamers
were out; Arabs and Wangwana were pushing their
way through the natives in order to greet us, for accord-
ing to their account we belonged to them. But the
great wonder of all was, " How did you come from Un-
yanyembe ?'
" ISoon Susi came running back and asked me my
name ; he had told the doctor that I was coming, but the
doctor was too surprised to believe him, and when the
doctor asked him my name Susi was rather staggered.
" But during Susi's absence the news had been con-
veyed to the doctor that it was surely a white man that
was coming, whose guns were firing and whose flag
could be seen; and the great Arab magnates of Ujiji—
Mohammed bin Sali, Sayd bin Majid, Abidbin Suliman,
Mohammed bin Gharib and others — had gathered
together before the doctor's house, and the doctor had
come out on his veranda to discuss the matter and await
my arrival.
" In the meantime, the head of the expedition had
halted and the Kirangozi were out of the ranks, holding
the flag aloft, and Selim said to me, ' I see the doctor,
sir. Oh, what an old man ! He has got a white beard.'
"DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME." 123
And I — what would I not have given for a bit of friend-
ly wilderness where, unseen, I might vent my joy in
some mad freak, such as idiotically biting my hand,
turning a somersault, or slashing some trees, in order to
allay those exciting feelings that were well-nigh uncon-
trollable. My heart beats fast, but I must not let my
face betray my emotions, lest it shall detract from the
dignity of a white man appearing under such extraordi-
nary circumstances.
" So I did that which I thought was most dignified; I
pushed back the crowds, and, passing from the rear,
walked down a living avenue of people until I came in
front of the semi-circle of Arabs, in front of which stood
the white man-^with the gray beard. As I advanced
slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked weari-
ed, had "a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded
gold band around it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat and
a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would have run to him,
only I was a coward in such a mob — would have em-
braced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not
know how he would receive me; so I did what cow-
ardice and false pride suggested was the best thing —
walked deliberately to him, took off my hat and said,
' Dr. Livingstone, I presume ?'
"I replace my cap on my head, and he puts on his
cap, and we both grasp hands, and then I say aloud : ' I
thank God, doctor, I have been permitted to see you.'
" He answered : ' I feel thankful I am here to welcome
you.'
" I turned to the Arabs, took off my hat to them in
response to the saluting chorus of ' Yambos' I receive,
and the doctor introduces them to me by name. Then
oblivious of the crowds, oblivious of the men who shared
with me my dangers, we — Livingstone and I — turn our
faces toward his tembe. He points to the veranda, or
rather mud platform, under the broad over-hanging
eaves ; he points to his own particular seat, which I see
his age and experience in Africa have suggested, namely,
a straw mat with a goat skin over it, and another skin
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
nailed against the wall to protect his back from contact
with the cold mud. I protest against taking this seat,
which so much more benefits him than me, but the doc-
tor will not yield : I must take it.
" We are seated — the doctor and I — with our backs to
the wall. The Arabs take seats on our left. More than
a thousand natives are in our front, filling the whole
square densely, indulging their curiosity and discussing
the fact of two white men meeting at Ujiji — one just
come from Manyuema, in the west, the other from Un-
yanyembe, in the east.
" Conversation began. What about ? I declare I have
forgotten. Oh ! we mutually asked questions of one
another, such as: : How did you come here?' and
' Where have you been all this long time ? the world has
believed you to be dead.' Yes, that was the way it be-
gan ; but whatever the doctor informed me, and that
which I communicated to him, I cannot exactly report,
for I found myself gazing at him, conning the wonder-
ful man, at whose side I now sat in Central Africa.
Every hair of his head and beard, every wrinkle of his
face, the wanness of his features, and the slightly weari-
ed look he wore, were all imparting intelligence to me
— the knowledge I craved for so much ever since I heard
the words, ' Take what you want, but find Livingstone.'
What I saw was deeply interesting intelligence to me,
and unvarnished truths I was listening and reading at
the same time. What did these dumb witnesses relate
to me?
"Oh, reader, had you been at my side that day at
Ujiji, how eloquently could be told the nature of this
man's work ! His lips gave me the details; lips that
never lie. I cannot repeat what he said ; I was too
much engrossed to take my note-book out and begin to
stenograph his story. He had so much to say that he
began at the end, seemingly oblivious of the fact that
five or six years had to be accounted for. But his ac-
count was oozing out; it was growing fast into grand
proportions — into a most marvelous history of deeds.
LIVINGSTONE'S LETTER-BAG. 125
" The Arabs rose up with a delicacy I approved, as if
they intuitively knew that we ought to be left to our-
selves, I sent Bombay with them to give them the
news they also wanted so much to know about the af-
fairs at Unyanyembe. Sayd bin Majid was the father
of the gallant young man whom I saw at Masange, and
who fought with me at Zimbizo, and who soon after-
wards was killed by Mirambo's Ruga — Ruga in the for-
est of Wilyankuru ; and knowing I had been there, he
earnestly desired to hear the tale of the fight ; but they
had all friends at Unyanyembe, and it was but natural
that they should be anxious to hear of what concerned
them.
" After giving orders to Bombay and Asmani for the
provisioning ot the men of the expedition, I called 'Kaif-
Halek,' or ' how do ye do,' and introduced him to Dr.
Livingstone as one of the soldiers in charge of certain
goods left at Unyanyembe, whom I had compelled to ac-
company me to Ujiji that he might deliver, in person, to
his master the letter-bag he had been intrusted with by
Dr. Kirk.
" This was the famous letter-bag marked ' Nov. 1st,
1870,' which was now delivered into the doctor's hands,
three hundred and sixty-five days after it left Zanzibar !
How long, I wonder, had it remained at Unyanyembe,
had I not been dispatched into Central Africa in search
of the great traveler ?
" The doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then,
presently opened it, looked at the letters contained
there, and read one or two of his children's letters, his
face, in the meanwhile, lighting up.
" He asked me to tell him the news. ' No, doctor,'
said I, ' read your letters first, which, I am sure, you
must be impatient to read.'
" ' Ah,' said he, 'I have waited years for letters, and I
have been taught patience. I can surely afford to wait
a few hours longer. No ; tell me the general news ; how
is the world getting along ?'
" ' You probably know much already. Do you know
126 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
that the Suez Canal is a fact — is opened and a regular
trade carried on between Europe and India through it ?'
" ' I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that
is grand news ! What else ?'
" Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual
periodical to him. There was no need of exaggeration
— of any penny-a-line news, of any sensationalism. The
world had witnessed and experienced much the last few
years. The Pacific Railroad had been completed ; Grant
had been elected President of the United States; Egypt
had been flooded with savans; the Cretan rebellion had
terminated ; a Spanish revolution had driven Isabella
from the throne of Spain, and a regent had been appoint-
ed; General Prim was assassinated; a Castelar had elec-
trified Europe with his advanced ideas upon the liberty
of worship; Prussia had humbled Denmark and annexed
Schleswig-Holstein, and her armies were now around
Paris ; the ' Man of Destiny ' was a prisoner at Wilhelms-
hohe; the queen of fashion and the empress of the
French was a fugitive; and the child born in purple
had lost forever the imperial crown intended for its
head; the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished by the
Prussians, Bismarck and Von Moltk,±, and France, the
proud empire, was humbled to the dust.
" What could a man have exaggerated of these facts ?
What a budget of news it was to one who had emerged
from the depths of the primeval forests of Manyuema !
The reflection of the dazzling light of civilization was
cast on him while Livingstone was thus listening in
wonder to one of the most exciting passages of history
every repeated, How the puny deeds of barbarism paled
before these ! Who could tell under what new phases of
uneasy life Europe was laboring even then, while we,
two of her lonely children, rehearsed the tale of her late
woes and glories ? More worthily, perhaps, had the
tongue of a lyric Demodocus recounted them; but in the
absence of the poet, the newspaper correspondent per-
formed his part as well and truthfully as he could.
" Not long after the Arabs had departed, a dishful of
THE COOK'S EXCITEMENT. 127
hot hashed-meat cakes was sent to us by Sayd bin Majid,
and a curried chicken was received from Mohammed bin
Sali, and JVIoeni Kheri sent a dishful of stewed goat meat
and rice; and thus presents of food came in succession,
and as fast as they were brought we set to. I had a
healthy, stubborn digestion, the exercise I had taken
had put it in prime order, but Livingstone — he had been
complaining that he had no appetite, that his stomach
refused everything but a cup of tea now and then — he
ate also — ate like a vigorous, hungry man ; and as he
vied with me in demolishing the pancakes, he kept
repeating, 'You have brought me new life.'
" 'Oh, by George,' I said, ' I have forgotten something.
Hasten, Selim, and bring that bottle ; you know which ;
and bring me the silver goblets. I brought this bottle
on purpose for this event, which I hoped would come to
pass, though often it seemed useless to expect it.'
"Selim knew where the bottle was, and he soon
returned with it — a bottle of Sillery champagne ; and,
handing the doctor a silver goblet brimful of the exhil-
arating wine, and pouring a small quantity into my own,
I said: 'Dr. Livingstone, to your very good health, sir.'
'k'And to yours,' he responded.
" And the champagne 1 had treasured for this happy
meeting was drank with hearty good wishes to each
other.
" But we kept on talking and talking, and prepared
food was brought to us all that afternoon, and we kept
on eating every time it was brought until I had eaten
even to repletion, and the doctor was obliged to confess
that he had eaten enough. Still, Halimah, the female
cook of the doctor's establishment, was in a state of the
greatest excitement, She had been protruding her head
out of the cook-house, to make sure that there were
really two white men sitting down in the veranda, when
tiiere used to be only one, who would not, because he
could not, eat anything; and she had been considerably
exercised in her mind over this fact. She was afraid
the doctor did not properly appreciate her culinary abil-
128 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ities ; but now she was amazed at the extraordinary
quantity of food eaten, and she was in a state of delight-
ful excitement. We could hear her tongue rolling otf a
tremendous volume of clatter to the wondering crowds
'who halted before the kitchen to hear the current of
news with which she edified them. Poor, faithful soul.
While we listened to the noise of her furious gossip, the
doctor related her faithful services and the terrible
anxiety she evinced when the guns first announced the
arrival of another white man in Ujiji ; how she had been
flying about in a state of the utmost excitement, from
the kitchen into his presence, and out again into the
square, asking all sorts of questions; how she was in
despair at the scantiness of the general larder and treas-
ury of the strange household ; how she wns anxious to
make up for their poverty by a grand appearance — to
make up a sort oi Barmecide feast to welcome the white
man.
"'Why,' said she, 'is he not one of us? Does he not
bring plenty of cloth and beads ? Talk about the Arabs !
Who are they, that they should be compared to white
men ? Arabs, indeed !'
" The doctor and I conversed upon many things,
especially upon his own immediate troubles, and his dis-
appointment upon his arrival at I jiji when told that
all his goods had been sold, and he was reduced to
poverty. He had but twenty cloths or so left of the
stock he had deposited with the man called Sheriff, the
half-caste, drunken tailoi-, who was sent by the British
consul in charge of the goods. Besides which he had
been suffering from an attack of the dysentery, and his
condition was most deplorable. He was but little im-
proved on this day, though he had eaten well, and
already began to feel stronger and better.
"This day, like all others, though big with happiness
to me, at last, was fading away. We, sitting with our
faces looking to the east, as Livingstone had been sitting
for days preceding my arrival, noted the dark shadow
which crept up above the grove of palms beyond the
THE DREAM REALIZED. 129
village, and above the rampart of mountains which we
had crossed that day, now looming through the fast-
approaching darkness ; and we listened, with our hearts
full of gratitude to the great Giver of Good and Dispen-
ser of aJl Happiness to the sonorous thunder of the surf
of the Tauganika, and to the chorus which the night
insects sang. Hours passed, and we were still sitting
there with our minds busy upon the day's remarkable
events, when I remembered that the traveler had not
yet read his letters.
"'Doctor,' I said, 'you had better read your letters.
I will not keep you up any longer.'
"'Yes,' he answered, 'it is getting late, and T will go
and read my friends' letters. Good-night and God bless
you.'
"'Good-night, my dear doctor, and let me hope youi
news will be such as you desire.' "
Since the creation of the world there never has occur-
red such another interview. The feelings of Stanley
that night, in the heart of Africa, can only be imagined.
The strain had ended, the doubt and suspense was over
— he lad found Livingstone — he had succeeded — his
most extravagant dreams had been realized — his wildest
ambition satisfied, and from that hour the adventurer,
the newspaper correspondent, took his place among the
great explorers of the world. But it was no stroke of
luck — it was the fitting reward of gieat risks and great
endeavor.
CHAPTER X.
Best at Ujiji — Stanley's love for Livingstone the best eulogium on 1m own
character — The night— T be morning interview — Life with Living-
stone— Survey the Tanganika together — Livingstone accompanies
Stanley to Unyiinyembe— The long march— Life in the place— Pre-
pvations for parting — The last breakfast — The last sad farewell —
Stanley's homeward march Its perils — Inundations — Makata
swamo — Terrible marching — Stanley «ends off for relief — Its arrival
— B igomayo reached at last — Noisy entrance — Stanley's jov — It is
suddenly dashed — Cruel conduct of the pre^s— Start for home.
THE rest and repose that Stanley now enjoyed can-
not be described nor even imagined. His long
straggle — his doubts, and fears, and painful anxiety were
over, and the end toward which he had strained with
such unflagging resolution, under the most disheartening
circumstances, and which at times seemed to recede the
more he pressed forward, was at last reached. Tne
sweet repose, the calm satisfaction and enjoyment which
always coins with the consciousness of complete success,
now filled his heart, and he felt as no oni can feel who
has not at last won a long and doubtful battle. It was
complete rest — entire fruition of his hopes ; and, as he
sat down there, in the heart of Africa, beside Living-
stone, he was, doubtless, for at least the first few days,
the hap nest mm on the globe, anl well des :rvei to be.
The goal was won, the prize secured, and for the time
being his utmost desires satisfied — and why should he
not be happy.
His intercourse with Livingstone for the next four
months will be marked by him with a white stone, as
the brightest portion of his eventful life. Independent
of all he had undergone to find this remarkable man,
the mm himself enlisted all his sympathies and awaken-
ed the m )st extravagaat ad niration and purest love,
and a nore charming picture can hardly be conceived
than th^se two mm walking at sunset along the beach
of the wild and lonely lake of Tanganika, talking over
130
STANLEY'S LOVE FOR LIVINGSTONE. 131
the strange scenes and objects of this strange, new world,
or recalling those of home and friends far away, amid
all the comforts and luxuries of civilization. The man
whom Stanley had at last found was almost as new and
startling a revelation to him as the country in which he
now found himself. Simple, earnest, unselfish — nay,
unambitious, so far as personal fame was concerned,
borne up in all his sufferings and trials by one great and
noble purpose, and conquering even savage hate by the
power of goodness alone, he was an object of the pro-
foundest interest. And nogreatsr eulogium on the innate
goodness and nobleness of Stanley's nature could be given
than he unconsciously bestowed on himself by the deep
attachment, nay, almost devotion, he expresses for this
lonely, quiet, good man. He fastens to him at once, and
casting off all prejudices and rejecting all former criti-
cism of his character, he impulsively becomes his cham-
pion, and crowns him the prince of men.
The talk between them, at this first meeting in this
far-off land, was long and pleasant, and when the good-
night was given, it was with strange feelings Stanley
turned into his — not tent — but regular bed. After all
the toils and almost unnatural excitement of the day,
he soon sank into a profound slumber. The next morn-
ing he awoke with a sudden start, and looked about
him for a moment in a dazed way. He was not on the
ground, but in a bed — a roof, not a tent, was above him,
while not a sound broke the stillness save the steady,
monotonous roar of the surf beating on the shore. As
he lay and listened, strange thoughts and varied emo-
tions chased each other in rapid succession through his
heart. At length he arose and dressed himself, intend-
ing, before breakfast, to take a stroll along the shore of
the lake. But the doctor was up before him, and met
him with a cordial " Good-morning," and the hope that
he had rested well.
' Livingstone had sat up late reading the news that
Stanley had brought him from the outside world, from
which he had heard nothing for years.
132 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
"Sit down,'' said the venerable man, "you have
brought me good and bad news," and then repeated,
first of all, the tidings he had received from his children.
In the excitement of the day before, the doctor had
forgotten to inquire of Stanley the object of his coming,
or where he was going, and the latter now said : " Doc-
tor, you are probably wondering why I came here."
" It is true," was the reply, " I have been wondering."
That wonder was increased when Stanley said : " I
came after you, nothing else."
" After me !" exclaimed the now utterly bewildered
man.
" Yes," said Stanley, " after yon. I suppose you have
heard of the New York Herald?"
"Yes," said the doctor.
" Well, Mr. Bennett, son of the proprietor, sent me, at
his own expense, to find you."
Poor Livingstone could hardly comprehend the fact
that an American, and a stranger, should expend $25,-
000 to find him, a solitary Englishman.
Stanley lived now some four months in the closest in-
timacy with Livi'igstone. Removed from all the for-
malities of civilized live — the only twoin that far-off land
who could speak the English language, and who were of
the same lineage and faith — their relations of necessity
became very intimate. All restraint was thrown off,
and this noble man poured into the astonished ears of
Stanley all he had thought, prayed for, endured and
suffered for the last long five years. It was a new rev-
elation to him — opened up a new world — gave him a
new and loftier conception than ever before of what hu-
man nature is capable of attaining to, and he says : " I
had gone over battle-fields, witnessed revolutions, civil
wars, rebellions, and massacres ; stood close to the con-
demned murderer, to record his last struggles and last
sighs ; but never had I been called to record anything
that moved me so much as this man's woes and suffer-
ings, his privations and disappointments, which were
now poured into my ear. Verily did I begin to believe
SURVEYING TANGANIKA LAKE. 133
' the gods above us do with just eyes survey the affairs
of men.' I began to recognize the hand of an overrul-
ing Providence."
After resting for a week, during which time Stanley
became thoroughly acquainted with Livingstone and
learned to respect and love him more and more, the
former asked the doctor if he would not like to explore
the north end of the Tanganika Lake and, among other
things, settle the question whether the Rusizi River
flowed into or out of the lake. The doctor gladly con-
sented, and they set off in a canoe manned by sixteen
rowers. The weather was fine, the scenery charming,
and it seemed like floating through a fairy land. Day
after day they kept on — landing at night on the pictur-
esque shores, undisturbed, except in one or two instances,
by the natives. The luxuriant banks were lined with
villages, filled with an indolent, contented people. With
no wants, except food to eat, and the lake full of fish,
they had notning to stimulate them to activity or effort
of any kind.
Islands came and went, mountains rose and faded on
the horizon, and it was one long holiday to our two
explorers. As the rowers bent steadily to their oars
and the canoe glided softly through the rippling waters,
they spent the time in admiring the beautiful scenery
that kept changing like a kaleidoscope, or talking of
home and friends, and the hopes and prospects of the
future. A hippopotamus would now and then startle
them by his loud snort, as he suddenly lifted his head
to breathe — wild fowl skittered away as they approached
— a sweet fragrance came down from the hill-sides, and
the tropical sky bent soft and blue above them. The
conventionalities of life were far away and all was calm
and peaceful, and seemed to Stanley more like a dream
than a reality. They were thus voyaging along the
coast twenty-eight days, during which time they had
traversed over three hundred miles of water.
But now the time came for Stanley to turn his foot-
steps homeward. He tried in vain to prevail on Living-
134 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
stone to go home with him, but the latter though anxious
to see his children, resolutely refused, saying that he
must finish his work. He, however, concluded to
accompany him as far as Unyanyembe, to meet his
stores which had been forwarded to that place for him
from Zanzibar. On the 27th of December they set out
by a new route. .Nothing occurred in the long journey
of special interest, except the shooting of a zebra and
buffalo, or meeting a herd of elephants or giraffes, or a
lion. It was a tedious and toilsome journey, during
which Stanley suffered from attacks of fever, and
Livingstone from lacerated feet. They were fifty-three
days on the march, but at last Unyanyembe was reached.
Stanley once more took possession of his old quarters.
Here both found letters and papers from home, brought
by a recent caravan, and once more seemed put in com-
munication with the outside world. Being well housed
and provided with everything they needed, they felt
thoroughly comfortable.
The doctor's boxes were first broken open, and be-
tween the number of poor articles they contained, and
the absence of good ones which had been abstracted on
the way, proved something of a disappointment. Stanley
then overhauled his own stores, of which there were
seventy-four loads, the most valuable of which he in-
tended to turn over to Livingstone. These, also, had
been tampered with; still many luxuries remained, and
they determined to have their Christmas dinner over
again. Stanley arranged the bill of fare, and it turned
out to be a grand affair. But now he saw that he must
begin to prepare for his return to the coast, and so left
Livingstone to write up his journal and finish the letters
he was to send home. In overhauling his stores and
making up the packages he should need on his return
route, he was able to select out and turn over to the
doctor two thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight
yards of cloth, nine hundred and ninety-two pounds of
assorted beads, three hundred and fifty pounds of brass
wire, besides bed, canvas boat, carpenters' tools, rifles,
PREPAEATIONS FOR PARTING. 135
revolvers, ammunition, cooking utensils and various
other articles of use — making in all about forty loads;
which, with his own stores, made Livingstone quite a
rich man for Central Africa — in fact, he had four years'
supplies.
At length the letters were all written, the loads
strapped, and the next day fixed for Stanley to turn his
face homeward, and Livingstone his to the heart of
Africa. At night the natives gave a great dance as a
farewell compliment, and a wild, weird dance it was.
Bombay wore a water-bucket on his head, while each
carried or wore something grotesque or dangerous. The
first was a war dai,ce, and when it ended, a second and
different one was started, accompanied by a chorus or
song chanted in a slow, mournlul tone, of which the
burden was "Oh-oh-oh, the white man is going home."
That night as Stanley lay and pondered on the
morrow, when he should see the " good man " for the
last time, he was filled with the keenest sorrow. He
had grown to love him like a son; and to see him turn
back alone to the savage life he must encounter in his
great work, seemed like giving him over to death.
It was a sad breakfast the two sat down to next
morning. But it was over at last and the parting hour
came.
" Doctor," said Stanley, " I will leave two men with
you for a couple of days, lest you may have forgotten
something, and will wait for them at Tura ; and now
we must part — there is no help for it — good-bye."
" Oh," replied Livingstone, " I am coming with you a
little way; I must see you off on the road;" and the
two walked on side by side, their hearts burdened with
grief.
At last Stanley said : " Now, my dear doctor, the best
friends must part, you have come far enough, let me
beg of you to turn back."
Livingstone stopped and, seizing Stanley's hand, said:
" I am grateful to you for what you have done for me.
God guide you safe home and bless you, my friend."
136 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
"And may God bring you safe back to us all, my
friend," replied Stanley, with a voice choked with emo-
tion. " Farewell."
They wrung each other's hands in silence for a minute,
and then Stanley turned away to hide his tears, mur-
muring: " Good-bye, doctor ; dear friend, good-bye."
He would not have been the man he is, not to have
been overcome at this parting ; alas, to be, as it proved,
an eternal parting, so far as meeting again in this life.
But this was not all — the doctor's faithful servants
would not be forgotten, and, rushing forward, seized
Stanley's hands and kissed them foi their good master's
sake. The stern and almost tyrannical man, that neither
danger nor suffering could move, completely broke down
under this last demonstration, and could recover him-
self only by giving the sharp order MARCH ! and he
almost drove his men before him, and soon a turn in the
path shut out Livingstone's form for ever. Yes, for
ever, so far as the living, speaking, man is concerned,
but shut out never from Stanley's life. That one man
fixed his destiny for this world, and who knows but for
the eternal ages. No wonder he said, long after, " My
eyes grow dim at the remembrance of that parting. For
four months and four days," he says, " I lived with him
in the same house, or in the same boat, or in the same
tent, and I never found a fault in him. I am a man of
a quick temper, and often without sufficient cause, I dare
say, have broken ties of friendship ; but with Living-
stone I never had cause of resentment, but each day's
life with him added to my admiration of him." Thus
closed the first volume of the book of Stanley's life.
The caravan marched wearily back, meeting with
nothing eventful till it entered the Ugogo territory,
where, owing to a misunderstanding on the part of na-
tives, who got it into their heads that Stanley meant to
pass them without paying the accustomed tribute, a fight
seemed inevitable. Had it occurred, it is doubtful
whether he or Livingstone's papers would ever have
been heard of again. But Stanley had seemed from his
THE DREADED MAKATA SWAMP. 137
infancy a child of destiny, and escaped here, as every-
where, by the skin of his teeth. It was a constant suc-
cession of toilsome, painful marches, even when the
natives were friendly, while there was often a scarcity
of provisions. To secure these he, at last, when on the
borders of the wilderness of Marenga M tali, dispatched
three men to Zanzibar, with a request to the consul there
to send them back with provisions. These messengers
were told not to halt for anything — rain, rivers or inun-
dations— but push right on. " Then," says Stanley,
" with a loud, vigorous hurrah, we plunged into the
depths of the wilderness waich, with its eternal silence
and solitude, was far preferable to the jarring, inhar-
monious discord of the villages of the vVagogo. For
nine hours we held on our way, starting with noisy
shouts the fierce rhinoceros, the timid quagga and the
herds of antelopes, which crowd the jungles of this broad
Salina. On the 7th, amid a pelting rain, we entered
Mpwapwa, where my Scotch assistant, Farquhar, had
died."
In twenty-nine days they had now marched three
hundred and thirty-eight miles. Twelve miles a day,
including stoppages and delays, was, in such a country,
rapid inarching— nay, almost unparalleled; but Stanley
had turned his face homeward and could stand n«» Afri-
can dilly-dallying on the way. We cannot go into the
details of this homeward march — to-day startled by a
thousand warriors, streaming along on the war-path —
to-morrow on the brink of a collision with the natives,
the end of which no one could foresee — the caravan
pressed on until they came to the neighborhood of the
terrible Makata swamps, that Stanley had occasion so
well to remember. Heavy rains had set in, swelling all
the streams and inundating the plains, so that the
marching was floundering through interminable stretches
of water. Now swimming turbulent rivers — now camp-
ing in the midst of pestiferous swamps, and all the
time drenched by the rain, that fell in torrents — they
struggled on until, at last, they came to the dreaded Ma-
10
138 EXPLORATIONS IX THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
kata swamp. The sight that now met them was apall-
iiig, but there was no retreat, and for long hours they
kept toiling slowly through it — sometimes up to their
necks in water, and where it was shallow sinking in
deep mire. They thus fought their way on, and at last,
weary, worn and half-starved, came to the Makata
River. But no sooner were they over this, than a lake,
six miles wide, stretched before them. The natives
warned him against attempting to cross it; but nothing
could stop him now, and they all plunged in. He says :
" We were soon up to our aimpits, then the water shal-
lowed to the knee, then we stepped up to the neck and
waded on tiptoe, until we were halted on the edge of the
Little Makata, which raced along at the rate of eight
knots an hour." Fierce and rapid as it was, there was
DO course left but to swim it, and swim it they did. For
a whole week they had been wading and swimming and
floundering through water, till it seemed impossible that
any one could survive such exposure, but, at last, they
came to dry ground, and to the famous walled city of
the Sultana Limbomwenni, wh'ch we described in his
upward journey. But the heavy rains that had inun-
dated the whole country, had so swollen the river, near
the banks on which it was situated, that the water had
carried away the entire front wall of the town, and fifty
houses with it. The sultana had fled and her stronghold
had disappeared. All along the route was seen the de-
vastating power of the flood as it swept over the country j
carrying away one hundred villages in its course. The
fields were covered with debris of sand and mud, and
what was a paradise when he went in was now a desert.
With the subsidence of the water the atmosphere became
impregnated with miasma, and the \\hole land seemed
filled with snakes, scorpions, iguanas and ants, while
clouds of mosquitoes darkened the air till life became
almost intolerable. At last, on May 2nd, after forty-
seven days of incessant marching, and almost continual
suffering, they reached Rosako, where, a few minutes
after, the three men he had sent forward ai rived, bring-
A CRUEL BLOW. . 139
ing with them a few boxes of jam, two of Boston crackers,
and some bottles of champagne ; and most welcome they
were after the terrible journey through the Makata Val-
ley. The last great obstacle (a ferry of four miles across
a watery plain) being surmounted, the caravan approach-
ed Bagomoyo, and in their jubilantexcitementannounced
its arrival by the firing of guns and blowing of horns,
and with shouting hurrahs till they were hoarse. Thesun
was just sinking behind the distant foiests, from which
they had emerged and which were filled with such ter-
rible associations, when they entered the town, and
sniffed with delight the fresh sea-breeze that came softly
stealing inland. The putrid air of the swamps, the poi-
sonous miasma that enveloped the entire country, were
left far behind with want and famine, and no wonder
the heart was elated and their bounding joy fjund ex-
pression in exultant shouts.
Happy in having once more reached civilization.
Happy in the thought of his triumphant success; and
still more happy in the joy that he believed the good
news he brought would give to others, Stanley's heart
was overflowing with kindness to all, and the world
seemed bright to him. But, in a moment it was all
dashed on opening the papers at Zai zibar. Scarcely one
had a kind word for him; on the contrary, he found
nothing but suspicion, jealousy and detraction, and even
charges of fabricating the whole story of having found
Livingstone. He was stunned at this undeserved cruel
reception of h s declaration, and the faith in the good-
ness of human nature, with which Livingstone had in-
spired him, seemed about to give way before this evidence
of its meannesss and littleness. He could not compre-
hend how his simple, truthful, unostentatious story could
awaken such unkind feelings, such baseless slanders. It
was a cruel blow to receive, after all that he had endured
and suffered. No wonder he wrote bitter words of the
kid-glove geographers who criticized him, and the press
that jeered at him. But he has had his revenge — for he
has triumphed over them all.
140 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
He now set to work to organize a caravan to send off
to Livingstone the things he had promised, and then
started for home. Before he left, however, he saw the
leaders of the new expedition that had reached Zanzibar
to go in search of Livingstone. How his arrival broke
it up, and its reorganization under Cameron was effected,
will be found related in the account given of this ex-
plorer in another portion of the volume.
CHAPTER XI.
SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S EXPEDITION UP THE NILE.
The Expedition of the Khedive of Egypt to suppress the Slave Trade —
Sir Samuel W. Baker placed at the Head of it — Extent of the Slave
Trade — Outfit of the Expedition — Preparations on a grand scale —
The Army — The Rendezvous at Khartoum — Failure on the part of
the Khedive — The Expedition starts — Obstacles met — Cutting
Channels for the Fleet — Slow, toilsome work — A Hippopotamus
charges the Vessel — Men become sick — Baker shoots a Hippo-
potamus— A Crocodile killed — The Expedition permanently stopped
— Discouragements.
SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER had been distinguished
for his explorations in Central Africa, and his re-
presentations of the evil effects produced by the slave
trade on a country rich in soil and well peopled induced
the khedive of Egypt to fit out an expedition to put a
stop to this nefarious business and give protection to
the inhabitants, whom he claimed to be his subjects,
from the ravages of slave traders. , Companies of bri-
gands had been formed that absolutely depopulated the
country by driving away those they did not enslave.
One of these traders had twenty-five thousand Arabs
under pay, engaged in this inhuman traffic. And it
was estimated that fifteen thousand of the khedive's
subjects were engaged in this business. Each trader
occupied a special district, and with his band of armed
men kept the population in submission. It wns esti-
mated that fifty thousand negroes were annually cap-
tured by these land pirates. The khedive determined
to put a stop to this, and organized an expedition for
that purpose and put Mr. Baker at the head of it with
supreme power, even that over life and death. Al-
though this was more than a year before Stanley started
after Livingstone, he had talked with Baker respecting
the route he intended to take, and it was thought likely
that if Livingstone was alive he might be working his
way by the Nile, and hence be met by him and relieved.
141
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The force placed under him was to be composed of
one thousand four hundred infantry and t'.vo batteries
of artillery, with which he was to march one thousand
four hundred and fifty miles to Gondokoro and annex
the country.
He knew that there would be more or less fighting,
for Soudan", the home of the slave-trader, would be
wholly opposed to the attempt to break up their busi-
ness. The org mization of the expedition was as follows:
The English party consisted of himself and wife,
Lieutenant Julian Alleyn Baker, R.N.; Mr. Edwin Hig-
ginbotham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood, secretary; Dr.
Joseph Gedge, physician; Mr. Tlarcopolo, chief store-
keeper and interpreter; Mr. McWilliain, chief engineer
of steamers; Mr. Jarvis, chief shipwright, together with
three others, and two servants. He laid in stores suffi-
cient to last the European party four years, and provided
four galvanized iron magazines, each eighty feet long by
twenty in width, to protect all material. He personally
selected every article that was necessary for the expedi-
tion, Pt an expenditure of about $4-5,000. This included
an admirable selection of Manchester goods, such as cot-
ton sheeting, gray calico, cotton, and also woollen blan-
kets, white, scarlet and blue; Indian scarfs, red and
yellow; handkerchiefs of gaudy colors, chintz printed;
scarlet flannel shirts, serge of colors (blue, red), linen
trousers, etc., ete. Tools of all sorts — axes, small hat-
chets, harness bells, brass rods, copper rods, combs, zinc
mirmrs, knives, crockery, tin plates, fish-hooks, musical
boxes, colored prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned spoons,
cheap watches, etc., etc.
He thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body
of troops, if necessary, while the magazines could pro-
duce anything from a needle to a crowbar or from a
handkerchief to a boat's sail. It will be seen hereafter
that these careful preparations secured the success of the
expedition, as the troops when left without pay could
procure all they required from the apparently inex-
haustible stores of the magazines.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRANSPORT. 143
In addition to the merchandise and general supplies,
he had several large musical boxes with bells and drums,
an excellent magic lantern, a magnetic battery, wheels
of life, and an assortment of toys. The greatest wonder
to the natives were two large girandoles ; also the sil-
vered balls, about six inches in diameter, that, sus-
pended from the branch of a tree, reflected the scene
beneath.
"In every expedition," he says, " the principal diffi-
culty is the transport.
'"Travel light, if possible,' is the best advice for all
countries; but in this instance it was simply impossible,
as the object of the expedition was not only to convey
steamers to Central Africa, but to establish legitimate
trade in the place of the nefarious system of pillage
hitherto adopted by the so-called White Nile traders.
It was therefore absolutely necessary to possess a large
stock of goods of all kinds, in addition to the machinery
and steel sections of steamers.
" I arranged that the expedition should start in three
divisions.
"Six steamers, varying from fort}7 to eighty horse-
power, were ordered to leave Cairo in June, together
with fifteen sloops and fifteen diahbeeahs — total, thirty-
six vessels — to ascend the cataracts of the Nile to
Khartoum, a distance, by river, of about one thousand
four hundred and fifty miles. These vessels were to con-
vey the whole of the merchandise.
" Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness
at Khartoum, together with three steamers. The
governor-general (Djiaffer Pasha), was to provide these
vessels by a certain date, together with the camels and
horses necessary for th<3 land transport.
"Thus, when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum
from Cairo, the total force of vessels would be, nine
steamers and fifty-five sailing vessels, the latter averag-
ing fifty tons each.
"I arranged to bring up the rear by another route,
via Sonakim, on the lied Sea, from which the desert
144 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
journey to Berber, on the Nile, north latitude 17° 37',
is two hundred and seventy-five statute miles.
"My reason for this division of routes was to insure a
quick supply of camels, as much delay would have been
occasioned had the great mass of transport been con-
veyed by one road.
" The military arrangements comprised a force of one
thousand six hundred and forty-five troops, including a
corps of two hundred irregular cavalry and two batteries
of artillery. The infantry were two regiments supposed
to be well selected. The black, or Soudani, regiment
included many officers and men who had served for
some years in Mexico with the French army, under
Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment turned out
to be, for the most part, convicted felons, who had been
transported for various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan.
"The artillery were rifled mountain guns of bronze,
the barrel weighing two hundred and thirty pounds
and throwing shells of eight and a quarter pounds. The
authorities at Woolwich had kindly supplied the expedi-
tion with two hundred Hale's rockets — three pounders
— and fifty Snider rifles, together with fifty thousand
rounds of Snider ammunition. The military force and
supplies were to be massed in Khartoum ready to meet
me upon my arrival.
"A train of forty -one railway wagons laden with sec-
tions of steamers, machinery, boiler sections, etc., etc.,
arrived at Cairo and were embarked on board eleven
hired vessels. With the greatest difficulty, I procured a
steamer of one hundred and forty horse-power to tow
this flotilla to Korosko, from which spot the desert jour-
ney would commence. I obtained this steamer only by
personal application to the khedive.
" On the 5th of December, 1869, we brought up the
rear, and left Suez on board an Egyptian sloop-of-war,
the Senaar. In four days and a half we reached Sona-
kim, after an escape from wreck on the reef of Shad wan,
and a close acquaintance with a large barque, with which
we nearly came into collision.
THE FLEET DELAYED. 145
" We anchored safely in the harbor of Sonakim, and
landed my twenty-one horses without accident.
" I was met by the governor, my old friend, Moontazz
Bey, a highly intelligent Circassian officer, who had
shown me much kindness in my former expedition.
" A week's delay in Sonakim was necessary in order
to obtain camels. In fourteen days we crossed the
desert, two hundred and seventy-five miles, to Berber
on the Nile, and found a steamer and diahbeeah in
readiness. We arrived at Khartoum, a distance of two
hundred milis by water, in three days, having accom-
plished the journey from Suez in the short space of
thirty-two days, including stoppages."
But while he pushed forward with great speed he had
found, when he reached Khartoum, that his fleet had
not arrived. None of the steamers from Cairo had pass-
ed the cataracts, the fifteen sloops he had depended on
for the transportation of camels had returned, while only
a few small vessels were above the cataract. The first
division, consisting of the merchandise, had arrived, and
he heard that a train of a thousand camels with all his
machinery and steamers were slowly traversing the
desert to meet him, while the third division soon came
up. Thus everything had moved like clockwork except
that portion of the expedition especially under the
charge of the khedive. Mr. Baker now urged the gov-
ernor to purchase vessels, and in a few weeks thirty-
three of fifty or sixty tons each, such as they were, were
rigged for the voyage of one thousand four hundred and
fifty miles to Gondokoro. He found that the two hund-
red and fifty cavalry sent to him were worthless and
dismissed them.
On the 8th of February he was ready to start, and
having embraced the black pasha, a host of boys and a
fat colonel, that he could not reach around, the bugles
rung cheerily out, arid two steamers of thirty-two and
twenty-four horse-power, and thirty-one sailing vessels,
carrying a military force of eight hundred men, moved
off under a salute from shore. Among these were forty-
14-G EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
six men selected from two regiments, half black and
half white, which were to serve as a body-guard. They
were armed with Snider rifles, and Baker named them
"the forty thieves." Sweeping down to the White Nile,
they began to ascend it under a strong wind from the
north. The White Nile is a grand river up to the junc-
tion of the Sobat, when it becomes impassable on ac-
count of the masses of vegetation that cover it, and
floating islands. He here entered the Bahr Giraffe, a
stream some two hundred and fifty feet wide but very
deep and winding. Up this they slowly worked their
way for two weeks, when they came to so much drift
vegetation that it took four hours to force a passage
through it. The next day, February 26, the obstruc-
tions increased, and a canal one hundred and fifty yards
long had to be cut. Large masses of tangled grass, re-
sembling sugar-canes, had to be cut out with swords and
then towed away by ropes. Having at length cleared a
passage they pushed on.
The next day dmilar obstructions had to be removed,
and the day after, just after starting, they were surprised
to find the river, though fourteen feet deep, had suddenly
disappeared. The entire surface was covered with mat-
ted vegetation, under which the invisible river swept on.
They now returned down the river eighty miles to their
old wooding place. On the way back they met the fleet,
composed of one steamer and twenty-five vessels, coming
up with a good supply of wood and bringing the troops,
which were in good health — one man alone missing, he
having been carried off by a crocodile while sitting with
his legs dangling over the side of the vessel. Two days
after, a brisk wind sprang up and the vessels started off
again. At one o'clock, Baker, who happened to be
sleeping on the poop-deck, was suddenly awakened by
a heavy shock, succeeded by cries of " the ship is sink-
ing." A hippopotamus had charged the steamer's bottom
and smashed several floats from one of her paddles. The
next instant he charged the diahbeeah, or boat, and
striking her bottom about ten feet from her bow with
CUTTING CHANNELS FOR THE BOAT. 14?
his tusks, drove two holes through her iron plating, let-
ting the water in with a rush. All hands fell to and
unloaded as rapidly as possible. They then pumped out
the water, and with some thick felt and white lead
stopped the leak.
At length they came to where the river disappeared,
and Baker, though he did not know how far this level
plain of vegetation extended, ordered seven hundred
men to cut a channel. The next day they cut a mile
and a half with their swords and knives, piling up the
stringy mass on either side like a bank. It was deadly
work, and at night thirty-two men were taken sick.
Five days of terrible work finally brought them through
it, and they entered on a lake a half a mile wide with
its ripples dancing in the sunlight. A loud shout went
up at the sight, while bugles and drums filled the air
with glad sounds. But the farther end was choked up
with the same mattsd vegetation. It was, however,
cleared away in an hour, when they emerged on another
lake, but its farther extremity was closed up solid, and
Baker, from the mast-head, could discern nothing but
rotten vegetation as far as the eye could reach. This
was discouraging, but only two courses lay before him —
return or cut his way through. He determined on the
latter, and by probing the marsh with long poles he dis-
covered the deep channel underneath and set the men to
clear it, and soon the stream was black with swimmers
hard at work. The men became sick and dispirited, for
there seemed no end to their toil. Besides, the marsh
was filled with snakes, one of which crawled into Baker's
boat.
In three days, however, they had cut a canal to a third
and larger lake some two and a half miles long. On
exploring this, another lake was discovered ahead, with
only a slight obstruction between. All was wild and
desolate around, and now, as the sun stooped to the
west, in the south great flouds began to roll up the
heavens and the deep thunder broke heavily along the
sky. The fleet coming up slowly began to assemble on
148 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the lake preparatory to passing the night. The paddles
had to be taken off, as the channel was made no wider
than absolutely necessary, and they were towed through.
This retarded their progress, and it became doubtful
when they could be used again. Thus their chief reli-
ance became a hindrance, for instead of towing they had
to be towed. Here Baker killed a hippopotamus. He
says :
"About half an hour before sunset I observed the
head of a hippopotamus emerge from the bank of high
grass that fringed the lake. My troops had no meat —
thus I would not lose the opportunity of procuring, if
possible, a supply of hippopotamus beef. I took a Reilly,
No. 8, breech-loader, and started in the little dingy be-
longing to the diahbeeah. Having paddled quietly
along the edge of the grass for a couple of hundred of
yards, I arrived at the spot from which the hippopotam-
us had emerged. It is the general habit of the hippo-
potami in these marsh districts to lie in the high-grass
swamps during the day, and to swim or amuse them-
selves in the open water at sunset. I had not waited
long before I heard a snort, and I perceived the hippo-
potamus had risen to the surface, about fifty yards from
me. This distance was a little too great for the accurate
firing necessary to reach the brain, especially when the
shot must be taken from a boat in which there is always
some movement. I therefore allowed the animal to
disappear, after which I immediately ordered the boat
forward, to remain exactly over the spot where he had
sunk. A few minutes elapsed, when the great, ugly
head of the hippopotamus appeared about thirty paces
from the boat, and having blown the water from his
nostrils and snorted loudly, he turned around and ap-
peared astonished to find the solitary little boat so near
him. Telling the two boatmen to sit perfectly quiet, so
as to allow a good sight, I aimed just below the eye,
and fired a heavy shell, which contained a bursting
charge of three diachms of fine-grained powder. The
head disappeared. A little smoke hung over the water,
DISPATCHING A CROCODILE. 14)9
and I could not observe other effects. The lake was
deep, and after vainly sounding for the body with a
boat-hook, I returned to the diahbeeah just as it became
dark."
The next day the body of the hippopotamus was found
floating near them, and all hands turned to to cut him
up, delighted with the prospect of fresh meat. A pour-
ing rain soon after set in, wetting the cargoes and stores
of the miserable vessels.
The next day, while digging the steamers out of the
vegetable rafts that, after they had been cut away by
the men to make a canal, had drifted into the lake, they
felt something struggling beneath their feet. They had
hardly scrambled away from the place when the huge
head of a crocodile protruded through the mass. The
men immediately fell upon him with bill-hooks and
swords, and soon dispatched him, and that night made a
good supper off his flesh.
They now kept on, day after day, it being a continual
succession of marshes and open patches of water. The
men grew more discouraged and heart-broken. One
soldier died, but there was not a foot of dry ground in
which to bury him. Day after day it was the same
monotonous, disheartening, slow pushing up this half-
hidden stream. Another man died, and how many more
would follow before the fifteen miles of marsh that now
lay before them was cut through, none could tell. By
March 26th, six more had died, and one hundred and
fifty were on the sick-list. Two days after Mr.
Baker killed another hippopotamus. On the 30th,
they got once more into the open river, with
dry land on both banks. As they were polling
along wild buffaloes were seen on the bank, one of
which Lieutenant Baker killed, while Mr. Baker wound-
ed another.
They had now been fifty-one days toiling up this
miserable stream, the men almost constantly in the
water, cutting a channel; and just as things became to
look hopeful, they were suddenly stopped. The water
150 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
became so shallow that everyth'ng grounded, and Mr.
Baker, going ahead for three miles in a row-boat, found
the river dividing into shallow channels, which made
farther advance impossible. This, then, was the end of
it all — the end of nearly two month's incessant toil and
suffering. All were thoroughly disheartened. Instead
of cutting their way to open water, they had reached
solid land. Nearly two months of constant toil had
been wasted, and worse than that, so much must be
taken out of the time allowed him to perform his work.
It was enough to discourage any man ; but Baker was
too old an explorer to give up because he was compelled
to turn back for awhile.
CHAPTER XII.
THE RETURN.
Baker's Heroic Wife — A Slaver Caught — A Sickening Spectacle — Free-
dom- Description of the Camp — A Cargo of Slaves Discovered —
Slaves Freed — WJiolesnle Matrimony — Exploring the White Nile —
A New Start — A New Lake — The White Nile reached at last — A
Fierce Night Attack by a Hippopotamus — A Thrilling Scene—
Gondokoro at la*t reached.
r INHERE was now nothing left to do but to return, and
JL April 2d, with a heavy heart, Baker gave the neces-
sary orders. But he had no intention of abandoning his
object. He was determined the next season to return
by the same route and cut his way through to the Nile.
He, however, communicated his resolve to no one but
his heroic wife and Lieutenant Baker. One of the most
remarkable features of this expedition was the presence
of this solitary lady, who, rejecting the comforts and
luxuries of a home which were hers, resolved to accom-
pany her husband into the heart of Africa — braving
fever, toil and probable death to stand by his side and
share his fortunes. The possibility of being left alone,
as she would be in case her husband fell before disease
or the bullet of the savages, she thought only of being by
his side if struck down by sickness, or perchance to save
him in the hour of danger. Cool, self-possessed, fearless
and full of resources, she became his guardian angel and
stands out in bold relief in this dangerous expedition as
one of the most remarkable characters in it.
Not much of interest attended this return trip — to-day
stalking an antelope, to-morrow, shooting a hippopota-
mus or crocodile, or bagging some wild fowl, made up
the most exciting incidents.
April 20th, just below the junction of the Bahr-Gi-
raffe with the White Nile, he came in sight of one of
the governors' vessels of this district, and, watching it
151
152 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
through his powerful telescope, he noticed suspicious
movements on board of her, and thought he saw a num-
ber of people ddven on board. Coming down stream at
the rate of eight miles an hour, he soon ranged up along
side the bank on which the governor's tent was pitched,
and invited him on board. He told him of the impossi-
bility of advancing that year by way of the Bahr-Gi-
ratf'e and had therefore returned. After some conversa-
tion with him, and putting some close questions as to
certain movements he had noticed, Baker sent his aid-
de-camp to visit the vessels lying near. The result was
the discovery of a gang of slaves. Mr. Baker then polite-
ly requested to be shown round the encampment on
shore. To his horror, he found a mass of slaves squatted
on the ground — many of the women secured by ropes
round the neck, and amid the filthy fetid mass, not only
children but infants. Altogether, on the boats and on
shore, were found one hundred and fifty-five slaves.
Though this territory was not in Baker's jurisdiction,
as fixed by the khedive, yet he insisted on the liberation
of the slaves, and though the governor rebelled at first,
he, at length, on being threatened with the wrath of the
khedive, yielded, and the naked, astonished crowd of
slaves departed with loud discordant yells of rejoicing
to their distant homes.
Mr. Baker now determined to establish a permanent
camp, selecting a forest on a high bank near the junction
of the Sobat, commenced operations. He had passed the
junction of this river on his way up in the middle of
February, and now in the latter part of April he found
himself there again, having accomplished nothing except
to learn how apparently impossible was the route in that
direction. More than two months had been passed, and
the total result of his efforts could be summed up in the
death report of the number that had sunk before the ex-
posures they had to meet in the pestiferous country they
had traversed. Mr. Baker sa}rs in his journal :
" I gave the name Tewtikeeyah to the new station,
which rapidly grew into a place of importance. It
PLAGUE OF FLIES. 153
was totally unlike an Egyptian camp, as the lines were
straight. D^ep ditches, cut in every direction, drained
the station to the river. 1 mad^ a quay about five
hundred yards in length, on the bank of the river, by
which the whole fleet could lie and embark or disembark
cargo. A large stable contained the twenty horses,
which by great care had kept their condition. It was
absolutely necessary to keep them in a dark stable on
account of the flies which attacked all animals in
swarms. Even within the darkened building it was
necessary to light fires composed of dried horse-dung, to
drive away these persecuting insects. The hair fell com-
pletely off the ears an I legs of the donkeys (which were
allowed to ramble about) owing to the swarms of fiies
which irritated the skin; but in spite of the comparative
comfort of a stable, the donkeys preferred a life of out-
door indepen<le ice, and fell off in condition if confined
to a house. The worst flies were the small gray ones
with a long proboscis, similar to those that are often
seen in houses in England.
" In an incredibly short time the station fell into shape.
I constructed three magazines of galvanized iron, each
eight feet in length, and the head storekeeper, Mr. Mar-
copolo, at last completed his arduous task of storing the
immense amount of supplies th.it had been contained in
the fleet of vessels.
"This introduced us to the White Nile rats,, which
volunteered their services in thousands, and quickly
took possession of the magazines by tunneling beneath
and appearing in the midst of a rat's paradise, among
thousands of bushels of rice, biscuits, lentils, etc. The
destruction caused by these animals was frightful.
They gnawed holes in the sacks, and the contents poured
upon the ground like sand from an hour-glass, to be
immediately attacked and devoured by white ants.
There was no lime in the country, nor stone of any kind,
thus it was utterly impossible to stop the ravages of
white ants except by the constant labor of turning over
the vast masses of boxes and stores, to cleanse them
11
154 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
from the earthen galleries which denote the presence of
the termites.
"I had European vegetable seeds of all kinds, and
having cleared and grubbed a portion of forest, we quickly
established gardens. The English quarter was par-
ticularly neat. The various plots were separated by
fences, and the ground was under cultivation for about
two acres, extending to the margin of the river. I did
not build a house for myself, as we preferred our com-
fortable diahbeeah, which was moored alongside the
garden, from the entrance of which a walk led to a
couple of large, shady mimosas that formed my public
divan, where all visitors were received.
" In a short time we had above ground sweet melons,
watermelons, pumpkins, cabbages, tomatoes, cauliflowers,
beet root, parsley, lettuce, celery, etc.; but all the peas,
beans, and a very large selection of maize that I had
received from England were destroyed during the voy-
age. Against rny express orders the box had been her-
metically sealed, and the vitality of the larger seeds was
entirely gone. Seeds should be simply packed in brown
paper bags and secured in a basket."
In a few weeks a marvelous change had taken place
in this uninhabited wilderness. In addition to the long
rows of white tents and iron magazines which had been
erected, a hundred neat huts stood arranged in an exact
line. These, besides various workshops and the sound
of lathes, saws, and the hammer and anvil filled the
forests with strange, unwonted sights and sounds.
Here he killed his first ostrich, notwithstanding his long
travels in Africa. He was now located where the
governor could be detected in his nefarious business as
slave-trader, which he stoutly denied, as all cargoes
would have to come down the Sobat directly past his
encampment. A watch was kept up, and in less than
a week it was rewarded by the outlook seeing a vessel
descending the river; and although taken by surprise at
the number of vessels moored to the bank, the stranger
made no signal, but, keeping the middle of the river,
SETTING THE CAPTIVES FREE. 155
endeavored to pass. This looked suspicious, and Baker
sent a boat with the orders to halt, and directed his
aide-de-camp, Abd-el-Kader, to go on board to inquire
about her cargo. She had a quantity of corn stowed in
bulk, nothing else, beside her crew and a few soldiers,
said the captain, who was indignant at being suspected
of anything wrong. But there seemed an awkward
smell about the cargo, arid Abd-el-Kader, drawing a steel
ramrod from a soldier's rifle, ran it into the corn; a
smothered cry, followed by a woolly head, was the
result, and a negro woman was pulled out by the wrist.
."The corn was at once removed; the planks which
boarded up the forecastle and the stern were broken
down, and there was a mass of humanity exposed, boys,
girls and women closely packed like herrings in a barrel,
who under the fear of threats had remained perfectly
silent until thus discovered. The sail attached to the
mainyard of the vessel appeared full and heavy in the
lower part; this was examined, and, upon unpacking it,
yielded a young woman who had thus been sewn up to
avoid discovery.
" The case was immediately reported to me. I at
once ordered the vessel to be unloaded. We discovered
one hundred and fifty slaves stowed away in a most
inconceivably small area. The stench was horrible
when they began to move. Many were in irons ; these
were quickly released by the blacksmiths, to the aston-
ishment of'the captives, who did not appear to under-
stand the proceedings. I ordered the rakeel and the
reis, or the captain of the vessel, to be put in irons.
The slaves began to comprehend that their captors were
now captives. They now began to speak, and many
declared that the greater portion of the men of their
villages had been killed by the slave-hunters.
" Having weighed the ivory and counted the tusks, I
had the vessel reloaded ; and, having placed an officer
with a guard on board, I sent her to Khartoum to be
confiscated as a slaver. I ordered the slaves to wash, and
issued clothes from the magazines for the naked women.
156 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
"On the following day I inspected the captives, and I
explained to them their exact position. They were free
people, and if their homes were at a resonable distance,
they should be returned ; if not, the}7 must make them-
selves generally useful, in return for which they would
be fed and clothed. If any of the women wished to
marry, there were many fine young men in the regiments
who would make capital husbands I gave each person
a paper of freedom, signed by n.yself. This was con-
tained in a hollow reed, and suspended round their
necks. Their names, approximate age, sex and coun-
try wei'e registered in a book corresponding with the
number on their papers.
"These arrangements occupied the whole morning.
In the afternoon I again inspected them. Having asked
the officers whether any of the negresses would wish to
be married, he replied that all the women wished to
marry, and that they had already selected their hus-
bands ! This was wholesale matrimony, that required
a church as large as Westminster Abbey and a whole
company of clergy.
" Fortunately, matters are briefly arranged in Africa.
I saw the loving couples standing hand in hand. Some
of the girls were pretty, and my black troops had shown
good taste in their selection. Unfortunately, however,
for the Egyptian regiment, the black ladies had a strong
antipathy to brown men, and the suitors were all re-
fused. This was a very awkward affair. "The ladies
having received their freedom, at once asserted 'woman's
rights.'
" I was obliged to limit the matrimonial engagements,
and those who were for a time condemned to single
blessedness were placed in charge of certain officers to
perform the cooking for the troops and other domestic
work. I divided the boys into classes; some I gave to
the English workmen to be instructed in carpenters' and
blacksmiths' work; others were apprenticed to tailors,
shoemakers, etc., in the regiment, while the best looking
were selected as domestic servants. A nice little girl of
COMPLETING THE DEPARTURE. 157
about three years old, without parents, was taken care
of by my w i ; j.
"Littb Mostoora, as the child was called, was an
exceedingly clever specimen of her race, and although
she was certainly not more than three years old, she
was quicker than most children double her age. With
an ugly little face, she had a beautifully shaped figure,
and possessed a power of muscle that I have never seen
in a white child of that age. Her lot had fallen in
pleasant quarters; she was soon dressed in convenient
clothes, and became the pet of the family."
He spent some time now in exploring the White Nile
and perfecting his arrangements for a new start. Many
difficulties had presented themselves, and complications
of various kinds arose, owing to the hostility of the
traders to the object of his expedition.
But everything at last being ready, the first division
of eighty-eight vessels started on the 1st of December,
and Baker followed, closing up the rear, with twenty-six
vessels, making quite a formidable fleet with which to
pierce to the centre of Africa.
The journal of the slow ascent of the river during this
month and the next is monotonous, relieved only now
and then by some accident or the killing of game. Over
the same ground, cutting the same canals, the expedition
forced its weary way onward — sometimes discharging
cargoes in the mud to lighten vessels over shallows — in
one case, cutting a channel six hundred yards long
through i-tiff clay, and advanced so slowly that it did
not seem difficult to tell where the strange inland navi-
gation with such a fleet would end. But at last, on the
9th of March, they emerged into a lake five miles long,
from the extremity of which they found a stream, only
a mile and a quarter long, flawing directly into the great
White Nile above al) its obstructions. "Thank God!"
was echoed from all lips. Still it required great labor
to get the fleet up to this point which Baker had reached
in his exploring boat. A dam had to be made to float
them to the lake, a work of immense labor; but it was
158 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
at length completed and the fleet brought safely up. Mr.
Baker killed that day two hippopotami, and the lake
seemed to be full of them.
The night was clear and cool and the moon silvered
this lovely lake with her brightness, while the deck was
covered with sleepers under their mosquito nets, and all
was still, when suddenly Mr. Baker was aroused by a
loud splash close to his boat, accompanied with the loud
snort of a hippopotamus. Jumping up he saw a huge
fellow making straight for the boac. Instantly tearing
away the strings that held the mosquito netting in its
place, he aroused the sleepers and shouted to his servant
to bring his rifle. But before it could be brought, the
furious animal, with one blow, capsized and sunk the
zinc boat. He then seized the dingy in his Tmmense
jaws and Baker heard, with rage, his favorite boat crack,
The servant hurried up with the rifle but it was unload-
ed. In the meantime, the people were shouting and
screaming at the top of their voices to scare away the
beast, which, however, paid no attention to them, and
kept up his ferocious attack. Baker now returned with
a loaded rifle, but the beast charged and plunged so
rapidly that it was difficult to get a fair shot. In a few
moments, however he came straight f>r the boat again.
The moon was shining bright, and Baker planted a shot
in his ugly head. It stopped him but a moment, how-
ever, and he charged again. Baker now kept up a rapid
fire, till, at length, the beast appeared to be badly wound-
ed, and, crawling to the bank, lay down on the grass
blowing and snorting. Thinking he would die, Baker
returned to bed again and fell asleep, but was soon
awakened by a loud splash. Jumping up, he saw the
animal, furious and strong as ever, dashing full on the
boat. But a bullet in the head sent him rolling over down
the stream. But he soon recovered and came thrashing
back. He did not repeat his attack, but retired to the
shore, where he remained snorting and blowing. Baker
again went to bed, when he was awakened the third
time by a loud splashing in the water. Rising, he saw
ARRIVED AT GONDOKORO. 159
the animal slowly walking across the stream broadside
to. This gave him a fair shot, and he planted two balls
in his shoulder. He, however, kept on, and, reaching
the right bank, turned round and attempted to walk
back again. This gave Baker a chance at the other side,
when a well-planted shot rolled him over, dead. In the
morning, on examination, it was discovered that he had
received three shots in the side and shoulder, four in the
head, while another had passed through his nose. Be-
side this, his boily was covered with old scars — one two
feet long — showing that he was a desperate fighter, and
had had many savage encounters with bulls of his own
species.
The work of getting through to the White Nile now
re-commenced, and, being safely accomplished, the fleet
in a month from that time reached Gondokoro, its great
objective point. This was the 15th of April, or four
months from the time he last set out. On this very day,
Stanley was climbing the Kira Peak, on his way to
Livings tone.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Country formally tnken possession of — War at last — A night attack
on a Native Village — Disaffection in the army — Attacked by croco-
. diles — An old man-eater ki led — A campaign ngainst the enemy —
The army propose t<> return liome — Baker obtains corn and restores
subon iaation — The ariuy greatly reduced — A fight — Target-shooting
at men.
MR. BAKER had thus accomplished his one thou-
sand nine hundred and fifty-six in i'es from Khar-
toum, surmounting difficulties that would have daunted
most men. This was to be the central point cf the new
territory he was to annex in the name of the khedive.
He immediately sent for the chief Alloron, and tolti him
the object for which he had come, but was not well re-
ceived. In the meantime his men were set to work
making garden, and in a few days it was well planted.
The Bans, a warlike tribe in the vicinity, Baker expect-
ed to have trouble with, and prepared parly to meet it.
The next month, on May 26th, he had fixed for the
official annexation of the country to Egypt. The troops,
one thousand four hundred strong, in clean, bright uni-
forms, were paraded around the flag-staff; the official
proclamation, declaring that the khedive took possession
of the country, was then read; the flag was run up the
staff, saluted by the officers with their drawn swords,
the artillery fired a salute, and the ceremony was over.
The natives looked on in mute surprise, but were told
that this was for their own good, to protect them from
the slave-traders, who had taken possession of and deso-
lated their country.
Steps were now taken to get the natives to work, and,
for awhile, things looked promising; but the warlike
Baris soon showed signs of insubordination and began
to be hostile. On the 7th of June, Baker found that the
Baris of Gondokoro had leagued themselves with the
natives of Belinian against him. War had come at last,
1GO
WAR AT LAST. 161
and he gave orders for an attack on a town of Belinian
that night. With twenty of his " Forty Thieves," and
fifty Egyptian troops, he started off in the darkness. It
rained heavily, and the ground was in some places
marshy, so that it was near five o'clock in the morning
when they arrived in the neighborhood of the villages.
Lieutenant-Colonel Tayib Agha, with three companies
of Soudan troops, had been left behind to get the gun
through a heavy swamp, and join them as soon as
possible. Just before daylight, Baker and his force
marched on, but had not proceeded far when they heard
the alarm given, which was quickly repeated on every
side. No time was now to be lost, and, putting the
horses at a hard gallop, and the infantry on a run, they
rushed forward, and, in a couple of minutes emerged
into an open space, in which was a circular r.tockade.
This was immediately surrounded, and the firing com-
menced— arrows against musketry. It was awkward
fighting, and, as the full daylight revealed the door,
Baker ordered the bugle to sound "cease firing," and
prepare to force the entrance. This was a narrow door-
way, about four feet and a-half high, built of large pieces
of hard wood. Transverse bars of a species of ebony
blocked it, between wrhich was jammed a mass of hooked
thorn. It was an ugly obstacle to surmount, but Abd-
el-Kader and Lieutenant Baker, with the "Forty Thieves,"
rushed against it, protected by the fire of the other troops.
In the meantime the immense drum within the stock-
ade was thundering out the summons to collect the
whole of the neighborhood for war. This signal was
answered by the heavy booming sound of innumerable
drums throughout the district, far and near; and, as it
had now become light, Baker could distinguish the
natives collecting from all parts, and evidently surround-
ing his position. He therefore posted his men as
skirmishers around the circle, about eighty yards dis-
tant from the stockade, facing outward, while the small
party forced the gateway.
The tire of the Snider rifles and the steady shooting
162 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF A.F1UCA.
of the " Forty Thieves" quickly reduced the number of
arrows, and the natives, finding it was getting too hot,
suddenly made a dash by a secret entrance and rushed
through the troops, now of necessity widely scattered,
and they gained the forest.
At the same time the gateway was forced, and they
found a prize within of upward of six hundred cows.
The stockade, or zaveeba, was immensly strong, formed
of massive logs of iron-wood, deeply imbedded in the
earth, and arranged so closely together that not one
bullet out of ten would have found its way through the
crevices if fired from a distance. The proper way to
attack the circular strongholds is to make a sudden rush
close up to the defense, and to lay the ritie between the
openings; the stockade then becomes a protection to
the attacking party, as there is no flank fire to enfilade
them. Baker says : "The natives were now gathering
from all sides; but we were in possession, and although
our party consisted of only seventy men, we had an
impregnable position, which I could hold until joined
by Tayib Agha. I accordingly took a few of the 'Forty
Thieves' to a distance of about one hundred and fifty
paces away from the centre and concealed them as
sharpshooters wherever I found a convenient cover.
The fire of the Sniders kept the enemy at a respectful
distance, and I took a few shots myself at long range, to
teach them the real value of a Snider rifle.
" There were no signs of Tayib Agha. The sun was
risen and clouds of steam began to rise from the wet
ground and the dripping trees. I ordered some grass
huts to be fired, as the volumes of smoke might attract
the attention of Tayib Agha's detachment, which had
evidently gone astray. If near, they must have heard
the sound of our rifles.
" The huts were soon in flames, and the smoke rose
high in the air, which would be a signal to be seen from
a great distance.
" I sent two buglers to the top of a small tree, from
which elevated post they blew the call for the lieutenant-
FEROCITY OF CROCODILES. 163
colonel and his three companies continually for about
half an hour "
The gun ha vino; finally come up, Baker marched
through the district, scattering the natives in every
direction. Soon after this Baker discovered that the
Egyptian commander of the troops of the khedive was
in close intimacy with a native chief who was hostile to
the whole expedition, while the officers fraternized with
the slave-traders of the White Nile, and had actually
purchased slaves. The result was, the army began to
be disaffected, and talk of returning home. Added to
this, the camp became sickly, lu the meantime the
crocodiles began to be very ferocious in the neighbour-
hood, and in one day took off two soldiers and a sailor,
while others were bitten, and others still had narrow
escapes. Baker shot them at every opportunity. He
killed an old man-eater over twelve feet long. In his
stomach was found five pounds of pebbles, winch he had
doubtless swallowed while devouring his prey on the
shore, a matted lump of hair, a necklace and two arm-
lets, such as are worn by the negro girls. " The girl had
been digested."
The Baris, in the meantime, kept Baker perpetually
harassed. Every night they lurked around the cattle-
yard, often attacking the men : and, on one occasion,
made a desperate assault on the camp.
On the last of July, Baker received news that an offi-
cer and six men, whom he had left under the protection
of a neighboring sheikh, had been killed by a hostile
tribe. As the summer wore away it became certain that
all attempts to raise a crop this year would fail, on ac-
count of the drought, and hence it was an anxious ques-
tion how the army was to subsist. But, the first thing
to be done was to subdue the Bellinians, and Baker
projected and carried out a regular campaign against
them of thirty -fiVe days, in which he completely sub-
dued them and drove them out of the country. But now
disaffection showed itself openly in the army. They
disliked both ,the discipline they were compelled to
164) EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
maintain and the refusal to let them hold as slaves those
they had captured in war.
On the 13th of October it came to a head — he received
a letter from the Egyptian commander and subordinate
officers of the troops, the substance of which was they had
determined to abandon the expedition — the chief reason
given being there was no corn in the country, and the
soldiers would starve.
Baker, disgusted with such conduct, did not con-
descend to make any reply. Instead, he sent the follow-
ing unexpected order: "Colonel Raouf Bey, with six
companies of troops, to be under orders at 2 a.m., to
await me at head-quarters."
Leaving Mr. Higginbotham in entire charge of the
vessels, he ordered three boats to be in readiness to cross
the river at two o'clock. " With two days' provisions, he
determined to push straight for the Bera island, to look
for corn, for the want of which the army wished to return.
Pushing seven miles up the river, they landed on the
west bank, and hauling the boats up stream by ropes,
passed through a country that looked more like a gentle-
man's park than an African wilderness. Among these,
countless villages were scattered, out of which the naked
inhabitants swarmed like bees, brandishing their spears
and gesticulating wildly. Baker now turned toward
them, when they retreated inland to the shelter of some
large, isolated, curious-shaped granite blocks. Advan-
cing to within one hundred and twenty paces, he, through
his interpreter, told them he had not come lo fight, but
to buy corn, for which he would pay them in cattle.
They replied in insulting language, saying they were
going to take his cattle by force, and bade him be off.
Still advancing and making offers of peace, which were
rejected with scorn, he at length suddenly changed his
tactics, and ordered the bugler to sound the assembly,
and drew up his troops in force. The echoes of the
bugle through the wood, and the sudden approach of
such a force, sent them to the right about, and they re-
treated, blowing their whistles as they did so, in defiance.
TAPPING THE GRANARIES. 165
Baker now extended his two companies a half mile
along, ^0 as to cover the villages in front of him, and
then advanced, giving strict orders not to enter any of
the huts, but to tap on their googoos or granaries to see
if they were full. These varied in size, some holding
forty andothers sixty bushels. The inhabitants lookedon
in mute astonishment at this strange proceeding, while
the line steadily moved on through village after village,
quietly tapping the granaries till they had gone through
twenty or thirty villages or more, in each of which were
at least fifteen granaries, nearly all quite full of corn>
As far as the eye could reach innumerable villages were
seen scattered around the open glades, all of them con-
taining corn in abundance.
From the high land near by, he gazed down on a long
series of rich islands in the river that looked like a long
" line of granaries." He felt as the Israelites did when
approaching the promised land, and thanked God and
took courage. " Sailors," he said, " who have been in
danger of shipwreck on a lee shore in a heavy gale may
understand the relief offered by a sudden shift of wind
in the moment of extremity. Such experience alone can
allow an appreciation of the mental reaction after a great
strain of anxiety that I had suffered for some time past."
He now addressed his " Forty Thieves," telling them that
he knew the country of old, and was well aware that this
was the true granary of Gondokor >, and that he was glad
that he could increase their rations of corn.
Having given the necessary orders for the night to
the now utterly discomfited Raouf Bey, he, for the first
time in twenty-four hours, obtained a little nourishment
in the shape of porridge. A fire of dry cattle dung hav-
ing been made by his officer, Monsoor, to keep oft' the
mosquitoes, with a log for his pillow, he lay down and
slept. With the bugle's morning call, he arose and sent
Raouf Bey to occupy the islands, whi'e he marched south
and established well-posted stations about a mile apart
upon high ground which commanded a view of the vessels
in the river — the three forming a triangle. Having made
16(5 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
these arrangements, he returned to the river, and, taking
the little dingy, started for Gondokoro, and, in an hour
and a half, reached it, ten miles distant. The sight of
the boat all alone, advancing with such rapidity, filled
soldiers and people with anxiety, and they thronged the
shore as it shot to the beach. The report filled all but
the disaffected Egyptian troops with delight.
On the 17th of October, he started again to hurry on
the gathering and shipment of the corn. He found
Raouf Bey negligent and careless, — he had, in fact, oc-
c*upied but one Island, leaving the natives to carry off
the corn from the others at their leisure. He immedi-
ately detailed troops to occupy these, and sent Raouf
Bey back to Gondokoro with orders to dispatch all the
invalids to Khartoum, but on no account permit any
others to go.
On the 13th of October, he sent Lieutenant Baker
farther up the river to occupy some rich islands in that
direction. On the 21st, a boat returned with a letter
from him, reporting his success. After twelve days of
hard and successful work, he received notice that the
two stations he had established were finished, and so he
sent Abdullah, commanding one, to take his detachment
and march south and occupy the villages on the main-
land opposite the vessels anchored alongside the islands.
On the 24th of October, having loaded several vessels
with corn, Baker was amusing himself shooting ducks,
when, about half-past four, he heard rapid file-firing in
the distance. He at once returned to his boat, where he
found his wife stationed on the high poop deck, watch-
ing the engagement taking place on the mainland.
" The troops were about a mile distant, and while
steadily on the march according to my instructions, they
were suddenly attacked by the natives in great force.
This was a square stand-up fight. The big drums and
horns were sounding throughout the country, and the
natives were pouring from all directions to the battle.
The white uniforms of the soldiers formed a strong con-
trast to the black figures of the native Baris ; thus we
A SQUARE STAND-UP FIGHT. 167
could see the affair distinctly. We could also hear the
orders given by 1 .ugle.
" Major Abdullah had prudently secured his rear, by
the occupation of one of the small villages, fortified by
a hedge of impenetrable euphorbia. He then threw out
skirmishers in line, supported by the force that held the
village. The natives were yelling in all directions, and I
never before saw them make such a good fight upon the
open ground. They not only outflanked, but entirely
surrounded Abdullah's detachment of ninety men. The
troops were keeping up a heavy fire, which did not ap-
pear to produce any decided result, as the natives thronged
to the fight and advanced close up to the fire of the sol-
diers, whom they attacked with bows and arrows. I
ordered our solitary field piece to be dismounted and
placed in the large rowing-boat, together with a rocket-
trough and the requisite ammunition, in readiness to
support Abdullah with a flank attack upon the natives,
by crossing the river should it be necessary. As our
vessels were in close view, I waited for the signal by
bugle, should Abdullah require assistance.
" I had only twenty-two men of the ' Forty Thieves '
with me, together with the eight artillery-men belong-
ing to the gun. The remainder of the 'Forty' were
holding the second island, about four miles in our rear.
Just before dark, I noticed the Baris were giving way;
they had evidently suffered some loss, which caused a
sudden retreat. I heard the bugle sound ' the advance,'
and we could see the troops advancing and firing in
pursuit. The Baris ceaged blowing their horns, and
collected in dense bodies at a great distance from the
troops, who had halted and now held the position.
" Only occasional shots were now fired, and the sun
having set, darkness gradually dissolved the view.
" I fully expected that the Baris would renew the
attack during the night, but I knew that Abdullah was
safe in his strong position within a village surrounded
by the high and dense hedge of the euphorbia; the
thick, fleshy branches of this tree are the best protec-
168 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
tion against arrows. I ordered the boat with the gun
to remain in readiness, so as to start at a moment's
notice, should we hear firing renewed during the night.
I should then be able to land the gun and take them
unexpectedly on the flank with case shot.
" Morning broke without any night alarm. I had
filled the vessel with the last of the corn upon the
island, therefore I determined to cross over with my
force and to meet the detachment under Major Abdullah.
This occupied about an hour, and we dropped down the
channel and took up an excellent position against a high
shore that formed a convenient landing-place. From
this point the land rose rapidly, and the entire land-
scape was covered with villages abounding in corn. The
natives appeared to have deserted the country.
"Having given the necessary order, I took my shot
gun, and, accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, Monsoor,
and two soldiers of ' the Forty,' I walked along the
river's bank toward the village occupied by Major
Abdullah's detachment, who I imagined might have
found a large quantity of corn, which accounted for the
delay in commencing the morning's march.
" There were great numbers of ducks and geese on
the river's bank ; thus as we walked toward Abdullah's
village, about a mile and a-half distant, we made a toler-
able bag. We had at length arrived within half-a-mile
of the village, which was situated upon high ground,
about six hundred yards from the river, when I noticed
a number of people issuing from the gateway, carrying
large baskets upon their heads,
" ' The soldiers have found plenty of corn,' remarked
Monsoor, ' they are carrying it from the googoos.'
" My eyes were better than Monsoor's. I at once per-
ceived that the people thus employed were Baris!
" We were only five guns now, separated from our
vessels by about a mile, and the troops under Major
Abdullah had evidently evacuated their position !
"Where upon earth had they gone? and for what
reason ? Certainly we had the river on our right flank,
A TIMELY RETREAT. 169
but we might have been attacked and cut off from our
vessels had the Baris the pluck to assume the offen-
sive. It was time to retreat, but as I wished the
Baris to believe we felt quite at our ease, we accom-
plished the move very easily, and strolled quietly
homeward, shooting ducks and snipe as we walked
along.
"The moment I arrived at the vessels, I dispatched a
party in the steamer's large boat, under Captain Moham-
med Deii, of the " Forty Thieves,' to row down the river
and to recall Abdullah's detachment, that must have
retreated for some inconceivable reaeon. The current
ran at nearly four miles per hour ; thus the boat would
be sure to overtake them.
" I was exceedingly annoyed. A force of ninety men
had evidently been cowed by their engagement with
the natives on the previous evening, and had retreated
upon Lieutenant-Colonel Achmet's position, instead of
joining me, according to orders. At the same time my
vessels had been in sight only a mile and a-half distant.
1 was thus left with a small party of thirty men while
ninety men had fallen back.
"This was an example of the utter helplessness of the
officers and men when left to themselves. If the natives
had repeated the attack, they would most probably
have got into dire confusion.
"Having started the boat I took ten men of 'the
Forty' and, accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, I march-
ed along the bank in order to meet the detachment on
its return when recalled by Mohammed Deii. During
the march I continued to shoot ducks, as this amuse-
ment would deceive the natives respecting the retreat
of Major Abdullah, which might then be attributed to
some other cause than fear.
"In about an hour I distinguished a sail coming round
the point. The wind was fair, and she quickly ran up
the stream. I now discovered that she was towing the
boat that I had sent down the river to recall Abdullah's
detachment. Upon her near approach I hailed the
12
170 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
vessel and ordered her to land the troops (with which
she was crowded) upon the west shore.
" In a short time, Major Abdullah and his gallant com-
pany had landed and formed in line. His excuse for
the precipitate retreat wrhich he had commenced at day-
break was, that he feared a renewed attack and he was
short of ammunition. He had, therefore, determined to
fall back on the station occupied by Lieutenant-Colonel
Achmet. He appeared to have forgotten that he could
have communicated with me by bugle.
" I inspected the men's pouches and found that most
of them had eighteen or twenty rounds of cartridge,
while the minimum contained eleven rounds; this is
what the Major considered a short supply of ammuni-
tion for a march of a mile and a-half along a beautiful
open country to my vessels."
Abdullah described the overwhelming number of the
natives and their extreme bravery in the attack which
his troops had repelled without any loss to themselves.
At the same time the troops under his command had
killed twenty Baris, whose bodies he had himself
counted.
" I now ordered them to advance to the village, as I
wished to examine the position. Upon arrival at the
spot where the battle had taken place, there were a
number of vultures settled in various spots where the
ground was marked with blood, and the cleanly-picked
skeleton of a man lying close to the euphorbia hedge,
showing that the Baris had really come to close quarters."
The natives had carried off their dead with the excep-
tion of this one body that had been cleaned by the vul-
tures. Baker now marched south until he came to six
villages close together all full of corn. Here he estab-
lished Major Abdullah to collect corn — making this his
central station. On the 3rd, he sent vessels loaded with
corn to Gondokoro. The next day, he dispatched fifteen
of his " Forty Thieves " to the south, to villages that had
not yet been disturbed. In the meantime, he had made
a nice little camp on the bank, erected huts and gran-
TARGET PRACTICE. 171
aries, which were soon filled with corn, awaiting trans-
portation to Gondokoro. While busily engaged in
superintending all these arrangements, he suddenly heard
steady firing in the direction taken by the small party
of " the Forty."
Ordering his horse, and taking with him three of the
" Forty Thieves " and Monsoor, he started off on a trot
in the direction of the firing. After riding about a mile
and a half, he came suddenly upon a village, on two of
the tallest huts of which two of the " Forty Thieves "
were standing as sentries, while J,he rest were taking
long shots at negroes who had attacked them. It was
regular target practice at long range. Baker says :
"My arrival on the summit, on a white horse, attended
only by Monsoor and three soldiers, was a signal for a
great blowing of horns and beating of drums. Immense
numbers of natives were to be seen in all parts of the
view before us. They ran eagerly from their villages,
and collected from every quarter, evidently bent upon a
fight with my little party.
" I ordered my men to cease firing, as they were wast-
ing their ammunition uselessly and destroying the pres-
tige of the rifles by missing at long ranges.
" I ordered a general advance in open order, about four
yards apart ; thus twenty men covered a line of about
seventy-six paces.
" This front, with the men in scarlet uniform, made a
tolerable show. I rode at the head on a very beautiful
Arab, ' Greedy Grey,' that was the most perfect of all the
horses I had brought from Egypt ; excelling in breed,
speed, beauty and temper. He was very powerful;
and would stand the fire of heavy guns without flinch-
ing.
" My little company moved forward in quick time.
This was the signal for a chorus of yells upon all sides ;
the big drums sounded louder than before, and the horns
of the Baris bellowed in every direction.
" Great numbers of natives now advanced with their
bows and arrows, gesticulating and leaping from side to
172 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
side in their usual manner, so as to prevent the possibil-
ity of a steady aim.
" As yet they were about six hundred yards distant,
and I continued the march forward as though no enemy
were present. As we descended a ravine and marched
up the opposite incline, I found that the natives retired
over the next undulation. Their line of front extended
about a mile and a quarter, while we occupied, at the
most, eighty paces.
" Having marched about a mile without firing a shot,
and finding that the natives invariably fell back as we
advanced, at the same time they kept the same interval
between us, I at once understood their tactics. It was
now five o'clock ; the sun would set within an hour, and
their intention was to draw us forward until darkness
would reduce the power of the rifles. They would then
be able to surround us, and very possibly overpower our
small force during our retreat to the vessels in the dark.
" I halted my men and explained to them the Baris's
dodge. I now ordered the retreat after this manner.
We should hurry down hill and up the next undu-
lation, so as to deceive the enemy with the idea of a
precipitate retreat. This would induce an advance on
their side. The Baris would be certain to follow us at
full speed if they supposed we were afraid of them. It
was my intention to cross rapidly the first undulation,
where my men would for a few minutes be out of view
of the enemy, and there to conceal them in a deserted
village which I had noticed during our advance. This
would be an ambush that would take the Baris by sur-
prise, as they would imagine we had passed ahead, they
would, therefore, come near the village.
" The order to the ' right about ' was given, and my
men, who took a keen interest in the plan, commenced
so precipitate a march down hill, that my horse was
forced to a jog-trot. I heard the savage yells of the
enemy, who, as I had expected, now followed us with the
hope of cutting off our retreat to the vessels.
" We crossed the dry, rocky bed of the torrent in the
SHOT AT THE RED SHEIKH. 173
bottom, and ascended the hill-face rapidly. Looking
back, I saw the natives running at full speed in pursuit.
They began to descend the hill just as we had crossed
the summit of the high ground; thus they lost sight of
us as we quickly concealed ourselves behind the huts
and granaries of a deserted village, 1 hid my horse be-
hind a hut, and the men, having surrounded the posi-
tions, crouched low on the ground behind the most con-
venient cover. Unfortunately, the natives, who were
on the high ground on our right flank as we faced about,
perceived the snare, and endeavoured to give the alarm
by blowing upon their whistles of antelope horn. This
was either misunderstood or unheeded by the enemy in
our rear, who quickly made their appearance.
" I had ordered my men to reserve their fire, and not
to expend any ammunition until the command should
be given. My good Monsoor was to reload for me, and
I borrowed a Snider rifle from a soldier. I rested the
' Dutchman ' against the googoo or wicker granary, be-
hind which I was concealed.
" The natives "on our right flank now pressed forward,
which would bring them in our rear; at the same time
those in our front appeared in very loose and open order,
evidently looking for us in all directions.
" I observed a man painted red, like a stick of sealing-
wax, with large ivory bracelets upon his arms. This
fellow was in advance, and he ascended a small ant-hill
to obtain a better view. Monsoor whispered : ' That's
the Sheikh.' At the same time I had taken a rest with
the rifle as I knelt down by the googoo stand. A puff
of smoke, and the sharp crack of the rifle startled the
enemy, as the red shiekh rolled over. The yells in-
creased on all sides, the whistles of the antelope-horns
now sounded a shrill alarm, during which the red shiekh
recovered his legs and vainly attempted a dance of de-
fiance. The leading Baris shot off their arrows, but
they fell short. In the meantime my men had remained
motionless. Concealment was now useless ; I therefore
threw off the cover of a googoo, into which excellent
174 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
position I had climbed, while Monsoor stood upon the
framework to hand me a spare rifle.
"The circular googoo raised three feet from the ground
afforded a splendid lookout. In this I could turn and
fire in every direction, like a pivot gun on a Martello
tower.
" The red sheikh was now about two hundred yards
distant, and was gesticulating to his people, who were
evidently shy of closing with our position. A shot from
the googoo struck him through the body, and he
staggered and fell, never to rise again.
"A few natives immediately made a rush forward to
recover him. One immediately fell at a shot from the
googoo, but recovering himself like a cat, he staggered
down the hill. Another quick shot cracked upon the
body of a native, who was caught in the arms of his
comrades and dragged away as they precipitately re-
treated in all directions from the dangerous locality.
" My men now begged me to allow them to charge
and capture the man who was endeavouring to escape.
I gave them leave, and a party of fifteen dashed out in
pursuit, with loud yells, after the retreating natives.
For about a minute the natives faced them and shot
their arrows, but the gallant fifteen coolly knelt upon
the clear ground, and, taking steady rest upon their
knees, opened a fire that wounded one man, who was
immediately supported by his fellows, and drove the
enemy before them. The fifteen immediately charged
forward and bayoneted a fugitive, and returned with
his bow and arrows in triumph.
" The enemy had quickly had the worst of it. They
were now standing in all directions at distances varying
from four hundred to one thousand paces. Many of
them were actually in our rear, but I noticed that these
fellows were already opening to the right and left, as
though they faltered in their determination to resist our
retreat to the vessels. I determined to follow up the
first advantage. I therefore ordered my men to hand
me their rifles as quickly as I required them, and I
A GENERAL SKEDADDLE. 175
opened fire in all directions from my elevated posi-
tion.
" The Baris would not stand in the open ground before
the Sniders.
" Having set the sights for four hundred yards, I took
them first and continued until the country was com-
pletely cleared of an enemy up to one thousand paces.
"The ground was dry and dusty, thus each bullet
marked its hit as the puff of dust rose from the earth
like a jet of smoke.
" Some of the enemy were knocked over at very long
ranges ; others were so scared by the close practice, as
the bullets either struck the ground at their feet or
pinged close to their ears, that they cleared off as quick-
ly as possible. Their noisy drums had ceased, and sud-
denly I perceived a general skedaddle, as those upon
our right flank started off at full speed, shouting and
yelling to alarm the rest. I now distinguished a body
of troops hurrying at the double-quick down the hill-
side in the distance. These were commanded by an
active Soudani- officer (lieutenant), who had been in
Mexico under Marshal Bazaine. He had heard the fir-
ing as he was returning with his day's collection of corn
to the vessels ; he had, therefore, dropped the corn and
hurried on with his party to our support. I ordered the
bugles to sound the retreat, and, having joined forces,
we marched without further opposition.
"We reached the diahbeeah and my little camp about
half an hour after dark."
CHAPTER XIV.
Vessels leave for Khartoum with the Invalids — Abdullah's villainy —
Exploring the White Nile — Meeting a friendly tribe — Interview with
the Sheikh — Sorcery and Talismans — Magic — An elephant hunt —
Its moral effects — Scramble for the flesh — The tribes seek peace —
Elephants enter the fort — A wild scene — Elephants gathering fruit
— An adventure with a hippopotamus — The country at peace — Baker
resolves to start south.
AFTER the departure of Major Abdullah, the natives
attacked the other station near him, commanded
by Colonel Achmet, and had wounded him in the back
with a barbed arrow, which had to be cut out. Another
passed through the heart of his servant, killing him on
the spot, while several soldiers had been wounded. On
the 3d of November, thirty vessels had left Gondokoro
for Khartoum, taking about one thousand one hundred
people, including women, sailors and invalids. This was
contrary to Baker's express orders, and was done on
purpose by Raouf Bey, to weaken the force and cripple
him so that he could not carry out the object of his ex-
pedition. By this means he was reduced to five hundred
and two officers and men, which should have numbered
one thousand six hundred and forty-five. This was
really the work of the ruffianly slave-trader, Abou Saood,
who had now apparently gained his point, and the ex-
pedition was paralyzed. Baker had written f.>r rein-
forcements, but he did not know when they would arrive,
while there remained but one year and four months of
the time allowed him to accomplish his work. But he
determined, reduced, as he was, not to relax his efforts
to secure the great end of the expedition. He had con-
quered the Baris and Gondokoro was well fortified, so
that he had nothing to fear from that quarter.
On the 10th of November he took one hundred and
fifty men to reconnoitre the country, at the last catar-
acts of the White Nile, some six miles distant. As he
176
FRIENDLY NATIVES. 177
marched along the high ground, nothing could exceed the
beauty of the country as an agricultural settlement.
The long, sloping undulations were ornamented with
innumerable villages, in all of which were overflowing
granaries. Ascending a slope, to his astonishment he
saw a large number of natives who appeared friendly.
Leaving his rifle with Monsoor, he rode up within fifty
yards of them. His interpreter explained that he was
only on an exploration, and had no intention of taking
their property, but wished to see their sheikh. They
said they were governed by a great sheikh named Bedden,
whose territory was bounded by the torrent bed he had
just crossed. They promised he should pay Baker a
visit on the morrow ; in the meantime, if he required
any corn, they would supply him. This was a politeness
to which he was quite unaccustomed. He therefore
thanked them, but declined their offer, saying that he
wanted nothing from them except friendship. He now
discovered that these people had never had any connec-
tion with the slave-traders, who were afraid to molest
so powerful a tribe. At parting, he gave them a white
handkerchief, as a signal to his sentries, when they
should arrive.
"We then," he says, "returned to our station, the
troops sharing the satisfaction that I felt, in having at
length discovered friends.
" On the following day, at about Three p.m., the sen-
try on the hill called to the guard that a very large
body of natives were approaching the station. I pre-
sumed that these were the followers of Bedden, I there-
fore ascended the slope and examined them with a tele-
scope. My suspicions were aroused from the extraordi-
nary number of people — at least seven hundred natives
were accompanying their sheikh. I returned to camp
and made preparations to receive his visit with a guard
of honour. I drew up a hundred men paralled with the
river, about fifty yards from the bank, near the bow of
my diahbeeah. Fifty men were in line at right angles
with the river — thus the lines formed two sides of a
178 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
square. In the front I placed the field-piece, loaded
with canister-shot. I intended to receive Bedden with
due honour in the hollow square, thus protected. In
the event of treachery, his force could be almost anni-
hilated by one discharge.
" The hill sentry now reported the arrival of a mes-
senger, who waved a white handkerchief on the end of
a bamboo. This was the signal agreed upon, and the
messenger was allowed to pass. He communicated the
fact of Bedden's approach ; in a few minutes later the
great sheikh arrived. He was very tall and gaunt;
and, without any delay, he and his people were ushered
into the hollow square, where they all stuck their lances
in the ground and sat down.
" I now sent for Bedden and a few of his principal
men to the poop deck of my diahbeeah, which being
covered with carpets, and arranged with sofas and chairs,
was something very astonishing to the great sheikh,
who had never seen anything but a vessel in the dis-
tance.
" I now explained the objects of the expedition ; at
the same time I presented him with a long Egyptian
blue shirt that reached to his ankles and made him look
more respectable. A crimson sash round his waist, and
a red tarboosh (fez) upon his head, improved his appear-
ance wonderfully and he began to feel at home.
" I presented him with six pounds of beads of various
colours, together with some strings of harness bells. A
brass bugle and a large mirror attracted more attention
than any other curiosities. I gave him a brass bugle, to
his great delight.
" The use of the cannon was then explained to him,
and the effects of the shell were pardonably exaggerated
to produce a respect for the weapon.
" He gave us six pots of Merissa and some fowls, pro-
mising to come again to-morrow.
" All these people believe in sorcery, and each sheikh
possesses spells and conjurors. Tortoise shells, scales of
the manis, lion's claws and those of the leopard, roots,
A HERD OF ELEPHANTS. 179
knots of trees of peculiar shape, and many other things,
are worn as talismans.
While here, Baker examined carefully the geological
formation of the country, and frequently worked for
gold iu the most likely spots in the deep ravines, but he
found no signs of gold or other precious metals.
ELEPHANT HUNT.
" On 13th November, at sunrise, Lieutenant Baker
started with the troops to convey corn from a distant
village. I was sitting on the poop deck of the diah-
beeah, enjoying a pipe and a cup of coffee, when he
suddenly galloped back with the news that a herd of
bull elephants was approaching from the west. I was
not prepared for elephant-shooting, and I recommended
him to return to the troops, who would otherwise waste
their time. I had no suspicion that elephants would
approach our position after having been disturbed by
the soldiers, in a country that was perfectly open.
" Lieutenant Baker cantered back to his men, while I
commenced to write up my journal according to my
daily custom.
" In about a quarter of an hour the sentry reported a
herd of elephants. All my people clambered up upon
the googoos and huts to obtain a good view of the herd,
which, from the high poop-deck of the diahbeeah, we
could see distinctly.
" There were eleven bulls, and they were marching in
close order along the bank of the river, approaching us
at about four hundred yards distance.
" I should have thought it almost as likely to meet a
herd of elephants in Hyde Park, as to find them in this
open and thickly-populated country. I now distin-
guished natives along the distant heights, all of whom
were attracted by the uncommon occurrence. In the
meantime the elephants approached, swinging their
trunks and huge ears to and fro, apparently unconscious
of the presence of the vessels and the people.
"I always kept my gunss and ammunition in beautiful
180 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
order, arranged on a rack in the cabin. On the left hand
side were the shot guns, i.e., two breach-loading No. 12;
four muzzle-load i'lg No. 10. On the right the rifles;
the little 'Dutchman,' two breech-loading Reilly No. 8,
two muzzle-loading Holland half-pounders that carried
an iron lead-coated explosive shell, containing a bursting
charge of half an ounce of fine grain powder. These
two elephant rifles were very hard hitters, and carried
twelve drachms of powder. The ammunition for the
rifles was on a shelf that formed the rack, contained in
a small bag with a simple reload, and a large bag with
a considerable supply.
" I quickly mounted 'Greedy Gray' and told my servant
Suleiman to send on my rifles directly with ammunition.
I ordered my men to run vip the heights and to come down
at about two hundred paces in the rear of the elephants,
where they were to form a line as though in skirmish-
ing order. This line of red shirts would most probably
check the elephants from rushing back. My men had
orders to fire at the elephants, and to endeavor to turn
them should they attempt to retreat.
"I was now on 'Greedy Gray;' the sloping ground
was as clean as a race course, I therefore galloped up the
slope so as to keep above the elephants. The horse flew
along at full speed.
" In a few seconds, I reined up the slope about a hun-
dred yards above the herd, which had now halted close
to the river's bank. They regarded the horse with some
curiosity and massed themselves together.
" In the meantime my ' Forty,' who were capital run-
ners, were moving rapidly along the heights, and they
presently came down and formed in a long open line
from the edge of the river up the slope. During this
operation the elephants only moved their ears and
trunks, but remained in the same position. They were
now completely surrounded; the diahbeeah and my people
were in the front, I was above them on one flank, and
the servants were coming up with the rifles. In their
rear was a line of about twenty soldiers, and on the other
TAKING TO WATER. 181
flank was the deep river, about one hundred and ten
yards wide from the mainland to the island.
" Just as the rifles were in a few yards of me, and I
was preparing to dismount, the elephants wheeled sud-
denly round and took to water. They had been stand-
ing in a low, swampy spot, that was frequently over-
flowed; thus they had no difficulty in descending to the
river. Close to this place the bank was perpendicular
and as hard as brick.
" I ran down to the river, but, by the time of my ar-
rival, the elephants had gained the opposite bank ; there,
however, they were in difficulty. The water was deep,
and the shore of the island was perpendicular and about
six feet above the water. They could not get out with-
out breaking down the bank so as to form an incline.
Already these enormous creatures, which are accustomed
to such difficulties, were tearing down the earth with
their tusks and horney-toed feet ; still it was a work of
time, that gave me a good opportunity.
" It was difficult to obtain a shot, as the elephants were
end on. The distance was about one hundred and ten
yards, which is very uncertain for so large an animal,
that must be struck exactly in the right place. I fired
several shots with the No. 8 breech-loader, aimed at the
back of their heads, but none of these were successful.
" Monsoor had the ammunition and reloaded for me.
The stunning effect of the heavy metal confused the ani-
mals and caused one to fall backwards into the scram-
bling herd. This turned an elephant sideways. The
bank had already given away and fallen in large masses
into the river which reduced its depth. The elephants,
which had now gained a muddy footing, ploughed and
tore down the yielding earth with redoubled vigor, as
my men in great excitement opened a hot fire upon them
with Snider .rifles. These had about as much effect as
though the> had been pelted with stones.
" Presently, as the depth was lessened by the falling
bank, the elephants showed more body above the surface.
The splashing and scrambling was extraordinary; at
182 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
length a large bull half ascended the bank, and for a
moment exposed his flank ; I fired a quick right and
left shot with a Reilly No. 8, behind his shoulder, and
he fell backward into the river, where he commenced a
series of wild struggles that brought him within twenty
yards of me, and I sent a ball into his head which killed
him. The powerful stream at once carried away the
floating carcass.
" The bank had now completely given way, and an
elephant was nearly on the summit. I fired at him with
one of the Holland half-pounders, which, by the recoil,
flew out of my hands for a distance of several yards;
this was loaded with twelve drachms of fine-grain pow-
der. The elephant fell on his knees on the steep in-
cline, and was bogged to all intents and purposes ; but
believing that I had plenty of ammunition on hand, I
fired another half-pounder into his shoulder, which
killed him on the spot, and he rolled into the water, and
the current took him away. I immediately sent a man
to order boats, with ropes and axes, to follow the car-
casses.
" In the meantime, I fired my last No. 8 into the
shoulder of an elephant that had just climbed the bank
and gained the island. I now had a glorious oppor-
tunity of a shoulder-shot at every animal as it should
ascend the steep incline.
" My ammunition was exhausted ! My servant Sulei-
man had sent the little bag that contained only one
re-load for the breech-loaders, and no powder-flask or
shells for the half-pounders. I had now the annoyance
of witnessing the difficult ascent of the elephants in
single file, exposing their flanks in succession to the
shoulder-shot, while I remained a helpless looker-on."
The moral effects of this elephant hunt were wonder-
ful. The sound of the firing had brought in the natives
from far and near, and they gazed with astonishment on
the carcasses of the two dead elephants. Their hostility
was at once changed into friendship, and on the follow-
ing morning Baker held a levee on board his boat,at which
A GENERAL DESIRE FOR PEACE. 183
twenty chiefs came to him for peace. He gave them
presents, and they said the taking of their corn was of
no account.
In their conversation they told him that elephants
were seldom seen in that region, and that they did not
understand killing them, and concluded by asking for
some of their meat. Permission being given, they went
off in the direction where the carcasses lay, and soon
there was a general scramble for the precious morsels.
This seemed strange, as they had cattle enough. But
Baker said "the African negroes are an incomprehen-
sible people, and they cannot be judged by the ordinary
rules of human nature."
Each division of the district in succession followed
each other's example in desiring peace, and on the 19th
of November he returned to Gondokoro, highly satisfied
with the results of the campaign, and he now began to
prepare, feeble as his force was, to push into the in-
terior toward the equator. In the meantime the ele-
phants became quite thick around Gondokoro, and one
night two immense bull elephants walked coolly past
the sentries into the very centre of the fort, and a scene
of the wildest confusion followed. The garrison was
aroused, and for a time it was a random discharge of
firearms on the one side, and a wild, frantic chai-ge of
elephants on the other. The men pursued them on
horseback, on oxback and on foot, but they finally made
their escape. But Baker had no time now to hunt, as
he was busy in preparing for his march southward.
It seems the elephants, at this time of the year, are at-
tracted toward this place by the ripe lalobes. The trees
producing this fruit, if of medium size, are frequently
torn down for the sake of this small production, that
would appear too insignificent for the notice of so huge
an animal. But there is no fruit so much coveted by
elephants.
" Near this spot, on the following day,5' Baker says,
" I had a close adventure with a hippopotamus. I had
gone to the same place where I had seen the elephants,
184 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
and as I was returning through the forest within a few
rods of the river margin, when, upon suddenly turning
round a dense thorn bush, I came within four or five
paces of a large bull hippopotamus. This animal had left
the river for an evening ramble on the shore, and was
munching some succulent grass with such gusto that he
had not heard my approach. Unfortunately, I had
come upon him exactly at right angles, which restricted
my shot to the temple. This is the most difficult of
penetration in the hippopotamus. I only had the 'Dutch-
man,' and my attendant, Moousoor, carried a Snider
rifle; thus we were badly armed for so impenetrable a
beast. I fired just in front of his ear, certainly within
fifteen feet. The only effect produced was a shake of
his head, and he appeared rather stupid, as though
stunned. The left hand barrel followed quickly upon
the right; Monsoor fired with his Snider. The 'Dutch-
man,' being a breech-loader, was ready agai'i, and we
fired into this stupid-looking brute as though he had
been a target, and with about the same effect.
" Suddenly, as though we had just aAvakened him, he
turned round and bolted into a dense mass of thorns
about thirty paces from us.
" In the meantime, the troops at the vessels, that were
within three hundred paces, having heard the rapid and
continued firing, supposed 1 had been attacked by the
natives. The ' Forty Thieves' rushed to the rescue. I
heard the bugle, and presently the voices of the men, as
they approached, running at full speed. The hippo-
potamus had moved from his thorny retreat, and was
moving slowly forward, when he was stumbled against
by ' the Forty/ some of whom literally ran against him.
The animal appeared quite stunned and stupid, and he
merely stood and stared at his new assailants. The
sight was perfectly ridiculous. Every rifle was fired
into him, but the hollow bullets of the Sniders had no
penetration, and we might as well have peppered the
stone bulls of Nineveh in the British Museum. At
length, having been the centre of a blaze of fire-work,
X
x
x
x
ESCAPE OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 187
as every man did his best to kill him, during the space
of about a minute, he cooly approached the edge of the
cliff, which was quite perpendicular and about eighteen
feet high. A tremendous splash was the end of the
encounter, as the hippo committed himself to the deep,
with a clumsy jump from the midst of the disappointed
soldiers,"
Everything was now in order in Gondokoro — peace
reigned throughout the district, food was abundant and
the station strongly fortified, and Baker was ready to
start south. He determined to carry a steamer in sec-
tions to north latitude 3° 32', and there put it together
and launch it on the Albert Nyanza.
CHAPTER XV.
The Determination to Advance — A Desperate Position — Soldiers draw
the Carts to Lahore — A Beautiful Country — The Future Capital of
Africa — Beaches Fatiko — Power of Music over the Natives — Grot-
esque Dancing of Naked Women — Starts for Unyoro — Beautiful
Country Depopulated — Proclaims Peace — Livingstone.
MR. BAKER, in this determination to proceed at all
hazards and finish the work assigned him, showed
his true Saxon pluck ; while his wife, notwithstanding
all she had endured and suffered, and the still greater
trials awaiting her, persisted in accompanying him to
the end, whatever that end should be, exhibited a spirit,
if possible, still braver and more worthy of admiration.
Selecting carefull}' those to compose his force on whom
he could rely in the last extremity, he prepared to set
out on his hazardous enterprise. Major Abdullah, who
had served in Mexico under Marshal Bazaine in that
unhappy invasion of Maximilian, formed with six boys
the domestic corps. Sending off a hundred and fifty
men to drive several thousand cattle and sheep to a
well-kn >vvn rocky ravine some six miles in advance, he
started at eight o'clock in the morning of the 22nd of
January, 1871, to complete his annexation of this vast
13
188 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
tropical region to Egypt, and open commerce with it
through the Nile to Europe. These same two hundred
men set out in high spirits, and on the 27th arrived
with the vessels at the foot of the cataracts, 4° 38' north
latitude. His old friend Bedden, a native chief whom
he had known in his former explorations in Africa, met
Baker here, but seemed to treat him coldly; and when
the latter said he wanted to hire two hundred carriers,
left him in such a suspicious manner that he was sure
he should never see him again. He was right; and
hence felt that his position was becoming desperate.
Without carriers he was helpless. With cattle and sheep
together he had over four thousand head, which he saw
was a great temptation to these unprincipled savages;
and the first thought when night came on was to secure
them. He knew they would think it a far better spec-
ulation to get his cattle than to carry his baggage. He
was not mistaken ; that night a stampede was attempted,
but, thanks to his precaution, failed. In order to clear
the neighbourhood of the thieves, he set off a number of
rockets, which soon sent them scampering in every
direction.
He now was compelled to change his plans; and, as
the steamer could go no farther with his load, he deter-
mined to push on to Labore, sixty miles distant, if the
soldiers would draw the carts. There he knew he could
obtain carriers and continue his march, and fulfil his
mission to establish the khedive's authority in that
region and suppress the slave trade.
After some objections and complaints by the soldiers,
they agreed to take the place of the carriers and move
on. Before the carts were all loaded and they were
ready to start, an old man seventy or eighty years of
age, paid him a visit, and Baker, from the numerous
spells hung about his person, concluded he was a "rain-
maker." His face was smeared with wood ashes to give
him as demoniacal an appearance as possible. Baker
gave him a glass of Marsala wine and a blue shirt, as he
wished to make friends with him, because the natives
A RAIN-MAKER. 189
hold these rain-makers in respect. He kept giving the
old toper wine till his heart was enlarged and he
was ready to converse. He said that he knew the
country well and would act as guide to Lahore for the
small consideration of a cow, saying that if he was with
him, the natives on the way would treat him with
civility. Baker asked him if he could keep the rain
away during the journey. He immediately blew his
rain whistle, which he carried suspended to his neck,
and looked as much as to say what do you think of
that? Baker sent for a German horn, which was a
polished cow's horn with a brass mouth-piece, and pre-
sented it to him. The wine had made the old conjurer
mellow, and he was profuse in his gratitude, and kept
blowing the horn aud grinning till the tears ran down
his cheeks. He then suspended it round his neck and
said proudly, " I am now a great sheikh ; there is no
rain-maker so great as I ; you will travel with me and
this horn shall keep you dry. Don't trouble yourself
about the Baris, they won't molest you, but travel as
soon as you can."
A valuable ally had been gained. At three p.m.,
February 8th, they set out, old Lokko, the rain-maker,
showing the way and waving a couple of thin-peeled
sticks at a black cloud in the sky and blowing his horn
frantically. The black cloud soon melted in the clear
air. He had evidently conquered, and so gave his face
an extra coat of wood ashes to make himself still more
hideous.
" Baker's wife rode " Greedy Gray " with as much
baggage as could be hung on the saddle, while he him-
self rode a powerful chestnut. Lieutenant Baker rode a
light chestnut and Colonel Abd-el-Kader an Arab steed,
while ten donkeys carried ammunition, flour, etc. Mr.
Baker, with his wife and the lieutenant, headed the
procession, followed by old Lokko. Behind him march-
ed the " Forty Thieves," while two Egyptian officers led
the rear guard, driving one thousand cows and five
hundred sheep, which swelled the little caravan into
190 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
immense proportions, and filled the air with their low-
ing and bleating. All the boys and girls carried loads,
and the best of spirits prevailed. After a march of three
miles, they halted in a little village, from which, at their
approach, the inhabitants fled.
Saving his flour for an emergency, Baker ordered the
troops to eat that which was in the village. Next
morning, on leaving, he tied up two cows as payment
for it, which were worth fifty times as much as the flour,
but he wished to show the inhabitants that he had no
intention of wronging them. The next morning he
started at half past five, and, after marching for two
hours and a half through a beautiful, undulating coun-
try, came to a little village where the people, being well
acquainted with Lokko, received him kindly, and where
he hired five natives to help carry his loads. At night,
having made twelve miles, they stopped at a small
village, where the natives brought him, as a great
curiosity, a shell that Baker had fired at the Baris and
which they had sold to these villagers for old iron. He
inquired what they were going to do with it. " Oh,"
they said, "hammer it into hoes." It had never ex-
ploded, and he told them if they put it on the fire it
would burst and tear them to pieces. They made no
reply, but carried away the shell, and it is not known
whether they ever tried the experiment.
The next day they again took up the line of march,
the country being even more beautiful and charming
than the day before. That night they slept at a village
named Marengo. The next day, old Lokko seemed at
fault about the direct road to Lahore, and Baker hired
two natives as guides. The following day they marched
fourteen miles, straight to the place, and halted beneath
a tree to watt for the immense herds to come up. He
was now out of the country of the Bari. The following
day he held a regular market, trading off cattle for flour.
The next day the whole country turned out to hunt,
and the natives returned in the evening with two
buffaloes and a few small antelope.
'A NIGHT ATTACK. 191
On the 24th of February, all the troops commanded
by Major Abdullah arrived, and reported that after Mr.
Baker's departure the Baris had attacked him and tried
to burn the vessels. On the night of the 17th, when
Baker and his party were quietly sleeping at Moogoo,
the troops left behind with the vessels were suddenly
attacked, the sentries being nearly all asleep. The one
cannon, on which they depended so much, was loaded
with shell instead of canister, while the artillerj-men
were fast asleep beside it. The spies of the Baris hav-
ing ascertained the state of things came suddenly upon
them. If one or two of the cattle sentries had not been
awake the whole force would have been massacred. As
they approached the silent camp, they gave a succession
of terrific yells and shrieks and rushed forward in a
mass. Fortunately a row of thorn branches had been
laid about sixty feet from the camp, which caused a
momentary confusion, during which the cattle sentries
fired off their muskets. The cattle guard of sixty men
instantly jumped to their feet and poured in a volley
on the dark mass of warriors that had been momentarily
stopped by the thorn-bushes. This gave time for the
camp to arouse and fire the cannon which, at that
point-blank range, would have ploughed a lane through
the crowded mass of naked warriors and scattered them
in every direction. But the gunners fled as the
appalling yells burst on their ears. One brave fellow,
however, stood by the gun and pulled the lanyard; it
missed fire, and he was immediately transfixed with
spears and the gun captured. The savages now made
for the vessels, with fire-brands in their hands. But the
frightened troops had taken refuge here, and, being-
driven into a corner, showed fight and poured rapid
volleys into the yelling, excited crowd, and they were
forced back and the gun recaptured. Another tube was
now found and fitted, and the lanyard again pulled.
Again the tube missed fire. Another was brought and
fitted, and this time the gun spoke with a roar that
drove the assailants back and finally put them to flight.
192 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The next morning, however, the big drums of the natives
were heard, on both sides of the river, and thousands of
savages were congregated on the neighboring heights,
and a general attack was expected. But they thought
better of it, and the troops reached Labore and joined
Baker.
The latter was now ready to move forward. He en-
gaged five hundred natives to accompany him — they to
select the cows to be given in payment for their services
beforehand. This was a tedious job, for they were very
particular; but the five hundred cows were at last
selected and driven out, and everything was ready for a
start, when a soldier deserted. The natives found him,
but dared not arrest him, as he threatened to shoot
them. Baker then sent out a sergeant, with three men
of the " Forty," who soon brought him back, when he
was put in irons.
Before he started the natives had a grand dance — the
men and women, stark naked, leaping, and yelling wild
songs, and beating two sticks of wood together. Baker
says " some of the girls were pretty, but being smeared
with red ochre and fat, were not attractive." At least a
thousand were present.
On the 29th of February, Baker ordered the reveille
to be beaten, when, to his surprise, only four hundred
and thirty-three of the five hundred carriers engaged
presented themselves — sixty-seven having absconded
with their cows, nor could they be found, and he was
compelled to start without them. There was consider-
able quarrelling about the choice of parcels to be carried,
especially the zinc boat of Mr. Baker's, weighing three
hundred and sixty pounds. But everything was finally
arranged, and at half-past three the caravan was put in
motion, and Baker, with five picked men, pushed on at
the rate of four miles an hour, leaving the rest far
behind. They halted at six o'clock in a rocky ravine,
where they expected to find water, but were disappointed,
and compelled to dig wells in the sand. At half-past seven
the troops, and baggage, and cattle arrived by torchlight.
CARAVAN IN MOTION. . 193
The next morning, March 1st, there was a frightful
scramble among the carriers over the packages they
were to carry. Through a fine country of hills and forests
they now marched for sixteen miles, but villages and
large tracts of land, which had formerly been under culti-
vation, were now desolate, having been ravaged by the
ruthless slave-hunter. This day Baker killed an ante-
lope that would weigh over four hundred pounds. This
day, as from an elevation he saw the White Nile flowing
on in a calm, deep stream from the Albert Nyanza, far
above all the cataracts; he felt sorely disappointed, that,
owing to the peculiar obstructions in the White Nile, he
had not been able to bring his steamers to this point, and
launch them permanently on the Albert Nyanza.
He now descended into a beautiful plain, to which he
gave the name Ibrahimmeyah, in honor of the khedive's
father. "This point," he says, "is destined to become the
capital of Central Africa." It will be the general depot
for steamers when the trade of this vast region is de-
veloped by steamers on the Albert Nyanza. He adds :
" It is a curious fact, that a short line of a hundred and
twenty miles of railway would open up the very heart
of Africa to steam-transport between the Mediterranean
and the equator, when the line to Khartoum is com-
pleted." The country was lovely and full of game, and
he "reveled" in it.
On the 3d of February, he started for Fatiko, which he
reached in three days. He had been here years before.
As he now approached it, he passed through a country
fit for a paradise. The line qf march was as follows : Mr.
Baker, his wife and Lieutenant Baker on horseback in
advance, preceded by five of the body-guard of the "Forty
Thieves." Next came the remaining portion of the
guard, commanded by Colonel Abd-el-Kader; after which
followed the regiment in single file, succeeded by the
four hundred carriers with the baggage — the herd of
cattle bringing up the long, imposing procession. The
sky was clear, the air in this high region cool and bal-
my, the scenery enchanting, which caused every heart to
194 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bound with joy ; while Baker was exhilarated with the
fact that he had reached the hot-bed of the slave-trader,
and come as a deliverer to the down-trodden inhabitants.
The long caravan suddenly appeared on a green plateau
that over-looked Fatiko about a mile distant, their pres-
ence being announced by the sound of bugles arid the beat
of drums. The inhabitants streamed out of their houses
at the unwonted sound, and gazed at the long procession
winding down to the notes of the bugle, as if it were an
apparition. Baker, in the meantime, dismounted, and,
taking out his glass, scanned carefully the slave-station
of his arch-enemy, Abou Saood, below, covering thirty
acres. It was in wild confusion and alarm, arid he heard
the slaver's drum beat, and saw slaves driven away in
great haste.
Baker and his wife had been here before as travelers,
and were at once recognized ; but his present appearance,
with a disciplined force of over two hundred men, was a
new sight to Central Africa. He was hailed, however,
on all sides as a deliverer. Abou Saood was taken com-
pletely aback. After he had secretly aroused the Baris
to hostility at Gondokoro, he had come hither with
seventy of them as retainers, and reported that the great
expedition had failed, and was, therefore, lording it in his
own way. With his old cunning, he professed great
friendship for Baker and his policy. The latter, though
knowing his duplicity, did not dare at this moment to
liberate the thousand or more slaves he had at different
stations, but set about his great work methodically and
earnestly. He says of the men of this region, that they
are the best proportioned that he has hitherto seen — mus-
cular, well-knit and handsome. The women were short,
and it was a little singular that the usual custom among
savage tribes was here reversed — the women going entire-
ly naked, while the men were partially clothed with the
skin of an antelope, thrown over the shoulder like a scarf.
Baker now dispatched two faithful men to go through-
out the country and inform the head men and all the in-
habitants of his intentions, and that the atrocities commit-
AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCE. 195
ted by Abou Saood and his slave-hunters were at an end,
and that in twenty days the latter would have to take all
his people out of the country. The news they carried
filled the inhabitants with joy ; for, once rid of these
banditti,the deserted villages would be repopulated and
the negected fields retilled.
After their departure, he had a long conversation with
an old servant of his in his former explorations, who gave
him a detailed account of the acts of Abou Saood and his
brigands for the last few years. It was a history of mas-
sacres and cruelty.
One day he reviewed his troops, a display that filled
the natives with astonishment. The music of the band,
which was composed of several bugles, drums and cym-
bals, together with a big bass-drum, drove them into ecs-
tasies. They are passionately fond of music, and Baker
says than he believes that a London organ-grinder could
march through Central Africa unguarded — followed the
whole way by an admiring and enthusiastic crowd, and
adds : " As my troops returned to their quarters, with the
band playing rather cheerful airs, we observed the women
racing down from their villages and gathering from all
directions toward the common centre. As they ap-
proached nearer, the charms of music were overpowering,
and halting for an instant, they assumed what they con-
sidered the most graceful attitudes, and then danced up
to the band. In a short time my buglers could hardly
blow their instruments for laughing at the extraordinary
effect of their performances. The women throughout the
Shooli are entirely naked, and the effect of naked women
bounding about as musical enthusiasts was very extra-
ordinary. Even the babies were brought out to dance,
and strapped to their mother's back, and covered with
pumpkin-shells, like tortoises, were jolted about without
the slightest consideration for the weakness of their
necks, by their infatuated mothers. The men, squatted
on the rocks, looked on in admiration. We stayed in
this ' paradise of Africa ' nearly two weeks, talking with
the chiefs and putting things in order."
CHAPTER XVI.
MARCH TO UNYORO.
The Start — Exodus of the White Ants — A Great Luxury — A Beautiful
Country — Masindi — King Abba Rega — His Walk and Appearance —
The Interview — Buffoons — Queer result of a Lecture on the Slave
Trade — A Station Commenced — Planting Vegetables — The King's
Visit — Magnetic Battery — Photographs — A Curious Interview —
Formal Annexation of the Country — Sends off a part of his Force —
Commerce Established — Vegetables Planted — Dark Omens — A
Drunken King — Asks after Livingstone — A Fort Built.
ABOTJ-EL SAOOD having sworn by the head of
Mahomet to do all that was right, Baker gave his
instructions to Major Abdullah, who was to be left with
one hundred men in the place, and, on the 18th of March,
started for Unyoro, seventy-eight miles south across an
uninhabited prairie, nothing occurring to break the
monotony of the march except the stalking now and
then of an antelope by Baker. On the 23rd, they came
opposite the last station of Abou Saood, commanded
by a man named Suleiman, who, two days after, sum-
moned his men to volunteer for the government as
irregular troops. On the 28th, Baker received a visit
from the great sheikh, Lokara, who was commander-in-
chief of Abba Rega's army, encamped a few hours' march
on the banks of the Nile, ready to attack King Rionga,
who was settled on an island in the river, farther up.
He came to ask his aid in his war against Rionga, which
the latter refused to give. While here he witnessed an
exodus of young white ants from the mound in which
they had been hatched out. Millions of these large, fat
and winged insects began to struggle out and prepare
for their first short flight, and were quickly caught by
the men with lighted wisps of straw. The annual exo-
dus of these ants takes place at the commencement of
the rainy season, and the gathering of them before they
can fly is an important harvest in Central Africa. They
196
ARRIVAL AT MASINDI. 197
are considered a great delicacy when fried in a little
butter. Baker, although now started on his journey
still farther south, toward the equator, would have
stopped had he known how Abou Saood, at Fatiko, was
plotting against him. Ignorant of this he kept on and
travelled through a beautiful country, but, as every-
where else, desolated by the slave-traders. Though his
carriers deserted him, he pushed resolutely on, and,
April 20th, from a hill sighted the Albert JNyanza Lake,
only twenty miles distant.
At last he arrived at Masindi, the capital of Unyoro.
The town is large, composed of a thousand or more straw
huts, shaped like a bee-hive, and scattered around as if
they had been dropped from the clouds at random. The
next day, he visited the king, Abba Hega, officially.
The king was about twenty years old and dressed very
neatly in bark cloth. Baker explained to him, at length,
the intentions of the khedive, and that he hoped the
country, once freed from the slave-traders, would be
prosperous and happy. He told him, moreover, that he
had not released all the slaves that he had found at the
different stations because he had no way of returning
them home, but now he should do so.
The next day Baker made suitable preparations to re-
ceive the king in return. But, after waiting a long time,
the latter sent word that he would rather Baker would
come to his house, evidently being afraid of foul play.
Baker bade the messenger tell the king that he was not
old enough yet to have learnt good manners, and that
he should at once dismiss his troops that had been kept
waiting for two hours, and ordered the bugler to sound
the " return." The sound of the bugle terrified him, and
he agreed to come at once, and the troops resumed their
old position. " In a few minutes," he says, " a great din
of horns, and drums, and whistles announced his ap-
proach, and we observed him walking down the road
with an extraordinary gait. He was taking enormous
strides, as though caricaturing the walk of a giraffe."
As he stalked along he was followed by a number of chiefs.
198 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
When he came opposite the band, the bugles, and drums,
and cymbals saluted him with such a terrible din that he
forgot his gait and cautiously, shyly entered the tent of
Baker, and hesitatingly took his seat upon the divan
which had been prepared for him, while a crowd of two
thousand or more surrounded the tent, which was guard-
ed by Baker's troops. The young king was about five
feet ten inches in height, with a very light complexion
and beautifully shaped hands, which were kept scrupu-
lously clean. His forehead was low but broad, and his
mouth large, with exceedingly white but prominent
teeth. He was cruel, cunning, and treacherous, and the
moment he mounted the throne invited all his principal
relations to visit him, and then treacherously murdered
them. He was suspicious of Baker, and would not
drink the coffee and sherbet offered him. The conversa-
tion soon turned upon Rionga, and the king took it for
granted that Baker would assist him to get rid of his
enemy, as otherwise, he said, it would be useless to at-
tempt any improvement in the country. Baker changed
the conversation by ordering a large metal box to be
brought forward, filled with an assortment of presents.
Among these was a watch, which Baker told him was
intended for his father, who was his friend when he
visited the country before. The king appropriated them
all. Baker gave him, also, a musical snuff-box. After
some time had been spent examining the toy, he again
entered at length on the object of his mission and how
he hoped to open an extensive commerce with the
country, etc., etc. To all of which Abba Rega's constant
reply was, it was all useless to attempt anything till
Rionga was killed and he must help him. Baker de-
clined, saying he hoped to make peace between them.
But to all his propositions the young barbarian replied,
" You were my father's friend, your wife was the same.
My father is dead ; but Rionga is still alive. Now, you
are my father, and your wife is my mother ; will you
allow your son's enemy to live ? "
Baker had no idea of being a father to the young
A RIDICULOUS BARGAIN. 199
reprobate, and changed the subject to Abou Saood. He
found that the latter had told a pack of absurd lies
about him, and, moreover, had acted treacherously.
After the interview was over, a space was cleared for
a number of buffoons of the king to exhibit themselves.
A curious theatrical scene was performed, followed by a
knock-down fight with clubs — the whole ending in a
disgusting act of indecency, which created roars of
laughter among the natives.
Baker now set about establishing a station, and began
to build a government house. He also commenced re-
storing slaves and punishing slave-traders. He had
given up lecturing the natives on the cruelty of the
slave trade. It was all right so long as their women
and children were not taken. In fact, slaves were con-
sidered by them a legitimate article of commerce. Once,
when Baker had been lecturing an old chief on the
wickedness of the practice, the chief asked him, when
he had finished, if he had a son. The latter replied that
his sons were all dead. " Indeed ! " exclaimed the sav-
age. " I have a son ; an only son ; he is a nice boy, a
very good boy," he then went on to expatiate on his
good qualities, the chief of which, that he was always
hungry, and wound up by saying, " he's a good boy, in-
deed, and he's my only son. I'll sell him to you for an
iron spade." It was plain the lecture on slavery had
not yielded much fruit.
Besides the erection of a government house, Baker
now began a dwelling for himself, and commenced to
clear away some fifty acres of ground for the planting of
vegetables. But Abba Rega, under one pretext or
another, did not supply the necessary laborers. Things
did not go on smoothly between Baker and this young
barbaric king. Baker now promised to send to Fatiko,
one hundred and sixty miles distant, and recover there
all the slaves that Abou Saood had taken captive in his
dominion, and then order Major Abdullah, with one
hundred troops there, to join him when Rionga, his old
enemy, would have to come to terms peacably or forcibly.
200 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
This plan seemed to satisfy Abba Rega, especially as he
thought this would necessarily be the first step toward
conquering Rionga. In the meanwhile, Baker amused
the young savage with sky rockets and other European
marvels.
All this time the station was progressing rapidly. The
soil was so rich that the seeds planted sprung up like
magic. Melons, pumpkins, cucumbers and cotton seeds
showed themselves above ground in three days after they
were planted. Baker's private residence, which was
capacious and well-furnished for Central Africa, had been
completed. This, with everything else that Baker did,
was reported to Abba Rega by his spies, that were
always hanging about.
Things did not wear a satisfactory aspect, although
nothing was done alarming which was not declared to
be merely a practical joke. One night, especially, a
hellish noise of drums and shouts seemed to announce
an attack on the camp, but nothing came of it. The
next morning after this very serious practical joke,
Baker sent to the king to come and visit him. But the
messengers returned, saying that he was either drunk or
asleep. In fact, it was the custom of this young negro
king to get drunk every night and sleep till two o'clock
next day, when he dressed and attended to public busi-
ness. He was suspicious of Baker, but the latter, on the
llth of May, prevailed on him to visit him, and he was
astonished and delighted at the superb appearance of
the room, which had been adorned with all sorts of
goods, and musical instruments, and toys of endless
variety. The magnetic batteiy was the chief object of
curiosity, and the king ordered each of his chiefs to take
a shock, the effect of which sent him into roars of laugh-
ter. At length one of the wires gave way as one of the
members of his royal cabinet was kicking and rolling on
the ground, which finished the entertainment. The king
now wished to see the private apartments. As they
entered, each one put his hand on his mouth, and cried,
" Wah ! wah ! " in astonishment at the magnificent dis-
ANNEXING THE COUNTRY. 201
play that met their eyes. The large looking-glasses that
had been brought on as presents — especially two, that
hung opposite each other, giving an endless reflection —
completely bewildered them, and they cried out, "Magic!"
The photographs were next examined, and the king
wanted to know why the eyes in all the pictures kept
looking at him, whichever way he turned. This was
also magic. The guns and various breech-loading rifles
were curiously examined, and the large musical-box set
agoing, which the king thought would be an excellent
thing to send him to sleep when too drunk to play him-
self. He begged for everything, even Mrs. Baker's
trinkets, and was vexed that they were not given him.
A small and beautifully-made revolver was shown him,
and he asked : " Does this belong to the 'sit' ' woman '
too ? " When told that it did, he burst out laughing,
saying : " Do women also carry arms in your country ?
I see everything belongs to the ' sit.' "
Mrs. Baker now gave him some Venetian beads and a
handsome gilt bracelet, set with four large French
emeralds — something he had never seen before — together
with a few strings of imitation pearls, which .delighted
him, and the greedy young cub was finally got rid of.
The day was fixed for erecting the flag and taking
possession of the country formally in the name of the
khedive. The troops assembled in the morning, the flag
was hoisted, the salutes made, the drums beat, and the
volleys fired ; and, as far as mere form went, the country
was annexed to Egypt.
Mr. Baker had constant trouble with this young
barbarian, who had more of the thief, and liar, and
traitor about him than any man he had yet seen.
On the 23rd of May, he sent off the party to Fatiko,
bearing dispatches to England and Egypt. He also sent
instructions to Major Abdullah to arrest Abou Saood
and Suleiman and send them to Gondokoro, and march
himself with his detachment to Foweera, near Rionga's
capital. This reduced his force to a hundred regulars,
four sailors, and four armed Baris.
202 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Mr. Baker now began to carry out one of the objects
of his expedition, which was, after taking measures to
break up the slave trade, to establish the industries of
civilized life. There was a vast amount of ivory in this
region, and he began to trade off goods for it. Those
that the natives prized most were toys — such as beads,
mirrors, butcher's knives, gaudy-colored handkerchiefs,
ear-rings, and all sorts of cheaply-gilded ornaments. A
couple of shillings' worth of these would buy a tusk
worth 8150. Although this looks like taking advantage
of the savage, it must be remembered that these paltry
trinkets were worth to him more than money or valuable
articles of clothing. He was well satisfied with the bar-
gain, for he got just what he wanted. Of course, valuable
goods would take the place of these baubles — cloths for
dresses, implements of husbandry and mechanical tools
be-in demand as civilization advanced. The troops be-
haved well, and kept order as quietly as a police force
would have done. Baker next attempted to establish a
school — making a young man, a clerk of his detachment,
schoolmaster. Everything that had been sown was above
ground — such as cucumbers, melons of various kinds,
pumpkins, radishes, onions, tomatoes, as well as some
wheat and cotton — all growing with that luxuriance
and rapidity seen nowhere except in the tropics. Every
cottage was surrounded by a garden ; boys and girls had
formed partnerships in raising vegetables, and things
began to wear a civilized aspect. Although so near the
equator, the air was cool and invigorating, for they
were nearly four thousand feet above the sea level. The
only drawback was, the men were intolerably lazy,
and passed most of the day sleeping, or idling around
those at work. But amid all this quiet and peaceful
life, Baker could not but observe that things had changed
since he had sent away so large a part of his force to
Fatiko. At length he became so uneasy, that he sent a
messenger to bring the party back.
The king, in the meantime, began to show his real
character ; he studiously kept aloof and did not furnish
A DRUNKEN FREAK. 203
the provisions as he had promised, while the chiefs showed
a different demeanor. Suddenly, one day, things seemed
to have come to a head. While Baker was drilling his
troops, as usual (he and his officers being unarmed), the
huge war-drum in the house of the king sounded, and in
less than ten minutes, horns were blowing in every di-
rection, and the negroes came pouring in from all quarters,
till in an incredible short space of time five or six thou-
sand men were gathered around the little band. Baker
immediately gave orders to form a square, and, with the
officers, stepped inside of it, and a row of fixed bayonets
confronted the crowd on every side. This puzzled them,
though they danced within a few feet of the glittering
points of steel. Baker gave strict orders not to fire, and
he and the officers stepped outside the little phalanx of
eighty men. Walking quietly up to two of the principal
chiefs he pretended to think it was all a joke, saying
carelessly, " well done, famously managed, let us have a
general dance." While they hesitated, he ordered the
band to strike up a lively tune. Whatever had been the
orignial intention, all hostile demonstrations now ceased,
and Baker demanded to see the king. After some delay
he came out, but so drunk that he apparently compre-
hended nothing, and soon reeled back to his hut. Baker
now demanded of the principal chief the meaning of this
strange proceeding, but he could give no satisfactory
answer, except that the king was so drunk that he beat
the war-drum without knowing what he was about. He
told him the thing must not happen again, for if he al-
lowed his warriors to surround his troops in this fashion,
he should certainly fire on them. On the whole, he felt
he had a narrow escape, and began to have serious mis-
givings for the future.
Ten native merchants, arriving at this time from Kara-
gwe, a long distance off, reported that two travelers were
with their king. Baker questioned them very closely to
ascertain if one of them might not be Livingstone, but
he was convinced that neither could be.
As May now drew to a close, Baker became very
14
204 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
anxious — the native warriors assembled in great numbers
and assumed a hostile attitude, which he could not ac-
count for. Not dreaming of hostilities, he had not pre-
pared for defense and, hence, became concerned for the
safety of his troops, and at once began to erect a fort or
stockade, and in three days (on the 5th of June) had com-
pleted it. He now felt secure.
CHAPTER XVII.
BATTLE OF MASINDI.
The troops poisoned — A sudden attack — The town set on fire — A sad
spectacle — Baker discouraged — A perilous position — Fears of Ab-
dullah— Hypocrisy of Abba Rega — Presents pass between him and
Baker — Treachery — A narrow escape — Baker's quarters set on fire
— A second attack — the neighboring villages set on fire — Fore-
thought of Baker's wife — Preparations to start for Rionga.
BUT matters grew steadily worse, until one day, just
after dinner, word was brought Baker that many
of the troops appeared to be dying. On inquiring what
was the matter, he was told that they had been drink-
ing some plantain cider which the natives had sent
them. A horrible suspicion shot through his mind, and
he immediately flew to his medicine-chest and began to
give antidotes. He at once suspected that __ this was
preliminary to an attack by the natives. With half
the troops sick or dying, they expected to make quick
work with the remainder. Hence, as night drew on,
Baker had all the sick taken inside the fort and the
sentries doubled. About a quarter to six, he was walk-
ing with his wife, smoking his pipe, suspecting nothing,
when he says :
" Suddenly we were startled by the savage yells of
some thousand voices, which burst unexpectedly upon
us!
"This horrible sound came from the direction of
A SUDDEN ATTACK. 205
Matonse°s house, and was within a hundred and twenty
yards from where we stood; but the town was not
visible, owing to the thick covert of oil bushes.
" The savage yells were almost immediately followed
by two rifle-shots in the same direction.
"'Sound the taboor!' Fortunately I gave this order
to the bugler at my side without one moment's delay.
" I had just time to tell my wife to run into the divan
and get my rifle and belt, when the sharpshooters
opened fire upon me from the bushes, within a few
yards.
" I had white cotton clothes, thus I was a very con-
spicuous object. As I walked toward the divan to meet
my rifle, the sergeant who followed close behind me fell,
shot through the heart. Poor fellow, the shot was aimed
at me.
" The troops had fallen into position with extra-
ordinary rapidity, and several ascended the roof of the
fort, so as to see clearly over the high grass. A soldier
immediately fell, to die in a few minutes, shot through
the shoulder-blade. Another man of the ' Forty Thieves'
was shot through the leg, above the knee. The bullets
were flying through the government divan and along
the approach. A tumultuous roar of savage voices had
burst from all sides, and the whole place was alive in a
few instants after the first two shots had been heard.
Thousands of armed natives now rushed from all direc-
tions upon the station. A thrill went through me when
I thought of my good and devoted Monsoor ! My wife
had quickly given me my belt and breech-loading double
rifle. Fortunately, I had filled up the pouches on the
previous evening with fifty rounds of cartridges.
"The troops were now in open order, completely
around the station, and were pouring a heavy fire into
the masses of the enemy within the high grass, which
had been left purposely uncleared by Abba Rega, in
order to favour this treacherous attack. The natives
kept up a steady fire upon the front from behind the
castor-oil bushes and the densely-thronged houses.
206 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
With sixteen men of the ' Forty Thieves,' together with
Colonel Abd-el-Kader and Lieutenant Baker, R.N., I
directed a heavy fire into the covert, and soon made it
too hot for the sharpshooters. I had ordered the blue
lights at the commencement of the attack. My black
boys Saat and Beltall, together with some soldiers, now
arrived with a good supply. Covering their advance
with a heavy fire from the Sniders, the boys and men
rushed forward and immediately ignited Abba Rega's
large divan. These active and plucky lads now ran
nimbly from hut to hut, and one slight touch of the
strong fire of the blue lights was sufficient to insure the
ignition of the straw dwellings.
" I now sent a party of fifteen Sniders, under Lieu-
tenant Ferritch Agha, one of my most courageous
officers, with a supply of blue lights, to set fire to
the town on our left flank, and to push on to the spot
where the missing Monsoor and Ferritch had fired their
rifles.
" Every arrangement having been rapidly carried out,
the boys and a few men continued to fire the houses on
our right flank ; and giving the order to advance, our
party of sixteen rushed forward into the town.
" The right and left flanks were now blazing, and the
flames were roaring before the wind. I heard the rat-
tling fire of the Sniders, under Ferritch Agha, on our
left, and knowing that both flanks were now thoroughly
secured by the conflagration, we dashed straight for
Abba Rega's principal residences and court, driving the
enemy before us. Colonel Abd-el-Kader was an excel-
lent officer in action. We quickly surrounded Abba
Rega's premises and set fire to the enormous straw buil-
ding on all sides.
" If he had been at home, he would have had a warm
reception, but the young coward had fled with all his
women before the action had commenced, together with
the magic bamba or throne and the sacred drum.
" In a few minutes, the conflagration was terrific, as
the great court of Abba Rega blazed in flames, seventy
TERRIFIC CONFLAGRATION. 207
or eighty feet high, which the wind drove in vivid forks
into the thatch of the adjacent houses.
" We now followed the enemy throughout the town,
and the Sniders told with sensible effect wherever they
made a stand. The blue lights continued the work of
vengeance ; the roar of flames and the dense volumes of
smoke, mingled with the continued rattle of musketry
and the savage yells of the natives, swept forward with
the breeze, and the capital of Unyoro was a fair sample
of the infernal regions.
" The natives were driven out of the town, but the
high grass was swarming with many thousands, who, in
the neighborhood of the station, still advanced to attack
the soldiers.
" I now ordered ' the Forty' to clear the grass, and a
steady fire of Snider rifles soon purged the covert upon
wrhich the enemy had relied.
" In about an hour and a quarter, the battle of Masindi
was won. Not a house remained of the lately extensive
town. A vast open space of smoke and black ashes, with
flames flickering in some places where the buildings had
been consumed, and at others, forked sheets of fire where
the fuel was still undestroyed, were the only remains of
the capital of Unyoro.
" The enemy had fled. Their drums and horns, lately
so noisy, were now silent.
" I ordered the bugle to sound ' cease firing.' We
marched through the scorching streets to our station,
where I found my wife in deep distress.
" The bugle sounded the assembly, and the men mus-
tered and fell in for the roll-call. Four men were miss-
ing.
" Lying on the turf close to the fort wall were four
bodies, arranged in a row, and covered with cloths.
" The soldiers gathered around them as I approached.
" The cloths were raised.
" My eyes rested on the pale features of my ever-
faithful and devoted officer, Monsoor ! There was a sad
expression of pain on his face. I could not help feeling
208 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
his pulse ; but there was no hope; this was still. I laid
his arm gently by his side and pressed his hand for the
last time, for I loved Monsoor as a true friend. His
body was pierced with thirty-two lance wounds; thus
he had fought gallantly to the last, and he had died like
a good soldier; but he was treacherously murdered, in-
stead of dying on a fair battle-field.
" Poor Ferritch Baggara was lying next to him, with
two lance wounds through the chest.
" The other bodies were those of the choush who had
fallen by my side, and the soldier who had been shot on
the parapet.
" We were all deeply distressed at the death of poor
Monsoor. There never was a more thoroughly unselfish
and excellent man. He was always kind to the boys,
and would share even a scanty meal in hard times with
either friend or stranger. He was the lamb in peace and
the lion in moments of danger. I owed him a debt of
gratitude; for although I was the general, and he had
been only a corporal when he first joined the expedition,
he had watched over my safety like a brother. I should
'never see his like again.'
" Monsoor was the only Christian, excepting the Euro-
pean party.
"The graves were made. I gave out new cloth
from the stores in which to wrap the bodies of four
of my best men, and they were buried together near the
fort.
" My heart was very heavy. God knows I had worked
with the best intentions for the benefit of the country,
and this was the lamentable result. My best men were
treacherously murdered. We had narrowly escaped a
general massacre. We had won the battle, and Masindi
was swept from the earth. What next ?
"I find these words, which I extract from my journal,
as they were written at that moment :
" ' Thus ended the battle of Masindi, caused by the
horrible treachery of tfte natives. Had I not been quick
in sounding the bugle and immediately assuming a
A NARROW ESCAPE. 209
vigorous offensive, we should have been overwhelmed
by numbers.' "
It was a narrow escape for the expedition, and shows
on what apparently trivial incidents not only an expedi-
tion may fail, but a great moral enterprise come to
nought and the fate of a continent be changed. Had
Baker fallen before the bullet so cooly aimed at him, it
is doubtful whether another expedition would have been
started for the same great object during this century.
Baker now felt himself in a perilous position. Al-
though one of the chiefs assured him that Abba Rega
had nothing to do with this treachery, but that it was
the work of Matonse, who had escaped, and that the
king had hid in the grass through fear, but had ordered
provisions and ivory fco be sent him as a present, Baker's
suspicions, however, were not allayed; and if Abba Rega
was at the bottom of it, then his three hundred natives,
whom he had sent as carriers with Abdullah to Fatiko,
were traitors too, and would, doubtless, seize the first
good opportunity to attack the unsuspecting commander
and massacre him and all his troops. He could not
communicate with him, and his only course, shut up
here in the heart of Africa, seemed to be to push on to
Rionga, whom he refused to attack at the request of
Abba Rega, and claim his support. He knew that the
defeat of Abba Rega's army and destruction of his
capital had reached him, for he always had spies in
Unyoro, informing him of everything that transpired,
and he would only be too glad to help complete the
overthrow of his enemy. He thought, too, if he could
only get word to him, that he would send three hundred
of his own men to Fatiko to take the place of those sent
by Abba Rega, and save Abdullah on his way back, as
he had, no doubt, received his order to return. While
he was planning how to get a message to Rionga, mes-
sengers arrived from Abba Rega, who attempted to ex-
plain the cause of the late outbreak, declaring that the
blame lay on Matonse and that the king would soon
deliver him up. Baker replied, that if the king could
210 EXPLOKATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
clear himself, he should be only too happy. The prin-
cipal chief said that Abba Rega was in despair, and had
given orders for a large quantity of ivory and provisions,
to be sent him. Baker, pretending to believe him, sent
him a porcelain dish, that he had previously promised, as a
peace-offering. Through his telescope he could see every-
thing that passed in the distant village where the king had
taken up his abode, arid when he saw that the present
was received with great delight he took hope. Two
beautiful white cows were sent as a present in return,
together with a polite message from the king; the
bearer stating that a large quantity of provisions and
twenty large elephant tusks were on the wTay to him, as
a token of Abba Rega's sincerity. This looked well, and
Baker, to propitiate still more the black young repro-
bate, sent him the big musical box the former had so
coveted in their first interview. Ramadon, the clerk,
who had frequent meetings with the natives since the
battle, and believed in the king's sincerity, was sent
with Hafiz to present the box.
In the meantime, Baker, with two officers and two of
" the Forty," walked around the burnt town, unarmed,
in order to conciliate the natives that still lurked amid
the ruins; He came upon two men standing close to the
high grass at the edge of the town and asked them to
approach. They said they were afraid of the two
sentries, which were some forty yards in his rear. As
he turned round to order these to retire, one of the villains
hurled his spear at him, which struck at his feet and
stuck quivering in the ground, and both dodged in the
tall grass. This unlooked-for treachery disheartened
him and, for once, Baker feels discouraged, and jots down
in his journal : " I believe I have wasted my time and
energy, and have uselessly encountered difficulties, and
made enemies by my attempt to suppress the slave trade
and thus improve the condition of the natives." He
was now anxious about Ramadon and Hafiz, who had
not returned, for, as he said, " it is impossible to believe
one word in this accursed country." Evening came and
ABBA KEGA'S TREACHERY. 211
still they did not return, and Baker was without an in-
terpreter. About eight o'clock, he was suddenly aroused
by a bright light that soon illumined the whole sky.
The quarters which he had abandoned for the protection
of the fort had been set on fire. The soldiers were im-
mediately placed in position to receive an attack, and all
remained as silent as death — nothing was heard except
the roaring of the flames. Suddenly, loud yells rent the
air, seemingly about two hundred yards distance, but
not a soldier stirred. The negroes had, doubtless, sup-
posed that the soldiers would rush out to extinguish the
fire, when they would fall upon them and murder them.
The attempt had failed.
Two days passed, and still the messengers with the
mnsical box had not returned. This was ominous. They
never did return — they were cruelly murdered.
On the 13th of June, the curtain was lifted, and Abba
Rega's treachery stood clearly revealed. About ten
o'clock a sudden rush was made upon the cattle, grazing
within sixty yards of the fort, and a general attack made
upon the station. Baker at once ordered the men into
line, and with the bugle at once gave the order to charge
bayonet. With a high and ringing cheer the gallant
" Forty" dashed through the ruins of the town and into
the high grass, scattering the frightened wretches in
every direction. Enraged and thoroughly aroused, Baker
now ordered Colonel Abd-el-Kader to take blue lights
and burn every village in the neighborhood, and soon
the whole region was a mass of rolling flame, that spread
with frightful rapidity among the straw huts. This
settled the matter, and Baker now saw that his only
hope lay in pushing on as fast as possible to Rionga He
knew that he would have to fight every inch of the way,
but that was safer than to stay there and starve to death.
It was possible they might- starve on their way; but, in
this critical moment, Baker's wife told him that, as a
precaution, while grain was abundant — she had, from
time to time, secreted a little, till now there was hidden
away about twelve bushels. This announcement gave
212 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF A.FRICA.
new life to all, for they now had enough to last them
during the seven days' march it would take them to reach
Foweera, fifteen miles from Rionga and in his dominions,
and preparations were made for an immediate departure.
The advance and rear guards were to carry nothing but
their knapsacks and a small bag of flour, so as to be
ready at any moment to meet the enemy. The order of
march was carefully arranged, while buglers were scat-
tered the whole length of the line, so that constant com-
munication could be kept up by the troops, though con-
cealed from each other by the tall grass. No talking
was allowed — nor, however thirsty, was any one to stop
and drink unless the bugle sounded halt.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE MARCH TO RIONGA.
The start — The station fired — The march — The country aroused — An
ambuscade — Howarte speared — Second day's march — A sharp fight
— Stripped for the race — Constant fighting — Eating the enemy's
liver — Foweera at last reached — interview with the king — His ap-
pearance— Baker offers to make him ruler over the territory of Abba
Eega — A treaty made — sealed by drinking each others' blood — Ba-
ker resolves to return to Fatiko — Arrival of messengers with bad
news — The return — The wife compelled to walk — Arrival at Fatiko
— Treachery — The attack — The flight and pursuit — The victory — Ba-
ker turns surgeon.
THE morning of the 14th of June, 1872, dawned dark
and dull, and a drizzling rain began to fall. At
nine o'clock the advance guard filed along the path in
silence, and halted at a little distance till the station
that had been built with so much care should be fired.
As the smoke curled slowly up, Baker thought with re-
gret of the pictures and other mementos of home that he
had been compelled to leave behind to perish in it. He
waited till the flames had got under uncontrollable
headway, and then gave the order " forward," and they
soon entered the tall grass. Baker's wife carried a
AN AMBUSCADE. 213
Colt's revolver in her belt and a quantity of spare am-
munition in her bosom for his favorite rifle, the "Dutch-
man." When they had gone about a mile, they heard
shouts in the rear, evidently made by the natives
around the conflagration. The march was slow through
the tall grass, while the rain came down steadily. Soon
all over the country, in every direction, the sound of
drums and horns was heard, as the alarm spread from
village to village. The little band heard them with
anxious hearts, for the fight was to be hundreds against
one.
They were marching steadily on through the rain,
when suddenly rapid volleys were heard from the ad-
vance guard, and the bugles rang out the order " halt."
Lances now flew out of the grass, and Howarte fell
thrust through with a spear, which he himself pulled
out of his body, but, before doing so, shot dead the negro
who had hurled it. Baker bandaged up the wound as
best he could, and, amid a shower of lances, again gave
the order to advance and fire wherever a spear appeared.
At length they came to open ground, where there was
no grass. Here they halted and felled the plantain trees
to make a wall around the camp. The night passed
quietly, but Baker, as he lay awake and pondered on
his condition, felt that the coming day would be one
long running fight. The next morning, at half-past
seven, they again started, Baker ordering the cattle to
be left behind, as they cumbered his march. In about
an hour and a-half they descended into a valley, in
which was a broad swamp. They were just entering
this, when suddenly there arose an uproar of yells,
screams, drums, horns, and whistles from thousands of
concealed negroes, as if all the demons in hell had been
let loose, while a tremendous rush through the grass
showed that a general attack was being made. Instantly
every load was upon the ground, and the files knelt
facing to the right and left. Next moment the lances
were flying thickly across the path, several passing
close to Mrs. Baker's head, but she never winced. The
214 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bugles rang out " fire," and the rapid volleys swept the
grass in every direction. Baker took his elephant
breech-loader and sent explosive shells from it into the
grass, which carried consternation among the savages.
When the fight was over and the men mustered, it was
found that Howarte had died during the conflict.
They soon gained an open space, where they felt
secure.
Baker now saw that the men were too heavily laden,
and he ordered a fire to be kindled, in which everything
(even Lieutenant Baker's naval uniform) which was not
absolutely indispensable was thrown and consumed. He
was stripping himself for the race. When this was done,
the order to advance was again given ; and as they once
more entered the cover, the horns and drums were again
heard. Although frequent halts were made to receive
the enemy, they made no attack, and they for some time
marched unmolested. The ambuscades were frequent,
and Abd-el-Kader received a painful wound in his arm.
On the 16th of June, the little band started at half-
past six. From that time until ten they fought nearly
the whole way, and one soldier was killed. The next
day it was the same thing over again — one man was
killed, and a boy, leading a horse a few paces in front of
Baker, uttered a wild shriek, as a spear, intended for
the latter, passed through his body. Mrs. Baker, in
these long and heavy marches, became dreadfully
fatigued. Soon a spear passed through Baker's horse,
Zofteer, which was a grievous loss to him. The next
day wore slowly on, the air ever and anon pierced by
the now familiar cry of "Co-co-me, co-co-me," which
always heralded an attack. On this day one of the
negroes killed was dragged into camp, and a scene
occurred of a most disgusting character. Baker's men
had a superstitious idea that if they devoured a part of
the enemy's liver, that every bullet they fired would
kill an Unyoro. Accordingly, they had cut out the liver
of this dead man, and were eating it raw. After the bar-
baric meal was finished, they cut the body into pieces
CAPTURE OF AN OLD SERVANT. 215
and hung them on the limbs of trees, as a warning to all
Unyoros following them.
It is not necessary to recapitulate the events of each
day's march. How much the enemy suffered it was im-
possible to tell, but Baker's small force was gradually
diminishing, and its only hope lay in getting quickly
into Rionga' s territory. This they did on the 23rd of
June, after ten days of fatiguing march through an al-
most endless ambuscade, with a loss of ten killed and
eleven wounded. It had been eighty days of almost
continual fighting.
The place where he encamped, and now began to build
a new station, was called Foweera, and was only some
fifteen miles from the island on which Rionga lived. A
fort was soon erected, though of a primitive kind. In
the meantime no message was received from Rionga.
This might be owing to the fact that the inhabitants on
that side of the river were hostile to him, and Baker
therefore felled palm-trees and constructed canoes, to
cross over to the king. These were in a few days com-
pleted, and it was arranged that the whole party should
cross in two trips. This consisted now of ninety-seven
soldiers and officers, five natives, three sailors, fifty-one
women, and boys, and servants, and three Europeans —
in all, one hundred and fifty-eight persons.
On the evening of the 29th, a party in search of green
plaintains captured a native and brought him into camp.
He proved to be an old servant of Baker, in his former
explorations of this country. Here was an unexpected
piece of good luck. From him he learned that Rionga
was friendly disposed, but that he had been deceived so
often that he was afraid to trust himself in his hands.
From him he also learned that Abdullah had been be-
trayed by the three hundred natives, as he feared, but
that these had not gone on to Fatiko with the detach-
ment. This showed that Abdullah was safe, which was
a great relief to Baker.
The next day messengers came from Rionga. Baker
sent back a present to the king, with a message saying
216 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
that he had refused to join Abba Rega in a war against
him, and had, in consequence, been attacked by him,
and that, if he, Rionga, would swear allegiance to the
Egyptian government, Abba Rega should be deposed,
and he put in his place. He also sent a present of an
entire piece of red Turkey cloth, and blue twill, and
some handkerchiefs, and asked for provisions, as his
people were very hungry. In two days the provisions
came, and with them canoes to transport the party to the
island. After paddling some fifteen miles, they reached
the island at five o'clock, but nobody was there to re-
ceive them — ("a true negro welcome ") — and they camp-
ed for the night with nothing but porridge and curry to
eat.
On the 18th, messengers arrived, saying that Rionga
would visit the camp that morning. About eight o'clock,
drums beating and horns blowing, announced his arrival.
He was a handsome man, about fifty years old, and with
exceedingly good manners. It turned out that he had
kept himself well posted in all that had transpired, and
knew long ago that Abou Saood had conspired with
Abba Rega for Baker's destruction, should he push on
beyond Gondokoro, and seemed much gratified that the
latter, long before he knew him, should have refused to
molest him, and took him by the hand. He declared
that he would always remain faithful to the Egyptian
government, but that to make the contract sure, they
must exchange blood — a ceremony indispensable — if he
would secure the co-operation of the people. The next
morning was fixed for the performance of this ceremony,
which Rionga declared, with childish delight, would fill
Abba Rega, when he heard of it, with despair.
The ceremony commenced that evening with drinking
large quantities of plaintain cider, and the night passed
in singing and dancing. At about nine o'clock, amid
several witnesses, Baker made a slight incision in his
arm with a lancet, from which a few drops of blood
flowed. Rionga immediately seized his arm and sucked
it. Baker did the same to the king's arm, taking care ,
ABDULLAH'S MESSENGERS. 217
however, to make so slight an incision that but a single
drop oozed forth, which, with extreme disgust, he was
obliged to lick up. Colonel Abd-el-Kader and Lieu-
tenant Baker performed the same ceremony with the
king's minister and son, and the bond was sealed and
they were friends forever. After this the heads of several
tribes appeared, and a general coalition was formed which
promised well for the future. Baker now arranged to
leave Colonel Abd-el-Kader with sixty men, in the stock-
ade he had built, to support Rionga, and return himself
to Fatiko.
On the 27th of July, he went down the river and ar-
rived at his station in the middle of the afternoon. The
next day, before starting, he saw eight natives, who
shouted: "Are you the pasha's soldiers?' (I. G. Ba-
ker's). Being answered that they were, they said that
they were messengers sent by Abdullah from Fatiko.
Abou Saood, it seemed, had been carry ing it with a high
hand during Baker's absence. Wat-el-Mek, in command
of the irregular forces, wished to remain true to the gov-
ernment, but this treacherous slave-trader had prevented
him. These messengers had come to find Baker, if alive,
and hurry him back, for Abdullah was in danger of being
overpowered and the station destroyed. If Baker had
received this disheartening news sooner, he would not
have left Colonel Abd-el-Kader behind with sixty men.
But it was to late now to change his plan, and he im-
mediately pushed on for Fatiko, some eighty miles dis-
tant. Only one horse was now left to Baker, and he
had such a sore back that his wife had to walk, as the
mud was too deep for the solitary donkey that remained
to him. With only dried fish for food, they pushed rap-
idly on through the uninhabited wilderness, and on the
third day arrived within ten miles of Fatiko. He here
learned that an attack had been planned on Abdullah,
which was to be made by Wat-el-Mek and Ali Hussein,
while Abou Saood, its author, had prudently retired to
Fabbo, twenty miles distant.
On the 2d of August, Baker again set out, and march-
218 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ing rapidly through a beautiful country of dells, woods
and open park-like lands, at last ascended the hill that
rose toward Fatiko. As he approached the place, he
ordered the bugles to sound the assembly. He entered
the village at half-past nine, and was warmly received
by Abdullah, who simply said, as he grasped his hand,
" Thank God, you are safe and here, all will go well now."
No one from Abou Saood's station came to welcome him
which was meant as an insult. After Baker had. changed
his dress he ordered Major Abdullah to form the troops
in line, as he wished to inspect them. When he had
finished the inspection he was about to return, when
Abdullah asked him to wait a little longer, as Wat-el-
Mek, with his people, were now approaching, with their
numerous flags, to salute him. Seven large crimson
flags upon tall staffs, and ornamented with ostrich feath-
ers, marked the intervals in the advancing line. Two
hundred and seventy strong, they formed in line, in open
order, directly facing the government troops. Wat-el-
Mek was dressed in bright yellow, with loose flowing
trowsers, and Ali Hussein in a snow-white long robe and
black trowsers. By way of complimenting him they
had brought out two large cases of ammunition. These
were placed with a guard under a tree. Baker's wife now
suspected treachery and begged her husband to dismount.
He, however, remained on horseback until all the arrange-
ments were finished, when he ordered Abdullah to retire
to camp with the troops. He then sent to Wat-el-Mek,
saying that he wanted to see him ; the latter promised
to come but did not. Baker sent five different messen-
gers, with the same result. He then ordered Abdullah
to go himself, with some soldiers and, if he refused to
come, arrest him. The bugle summoned the men, who
had dispersed, and they immediately formed, two deep,
in the open space in the camp. Lieutenant Baker of-
fered to go and see Wat-el-Mek in person, and Baker,
having given his consent, advised him to take some
soldiers with him.
While he was giving them some instructions, he was
TREACHERY. 219
interrupted by a volley of musketry, concentrated on the
mass of scarlet uniforms. In a few seconds seven men
were struck, and the bullets were whistling on every
side. He says:
" My wife, who was always ready in any emergency,
rushed out of her hut with my rifle and belt.
" The soldiers had already commenced firing by the
time that I was armed and had reached the front, by the
edge of the light fence of wattles, that were inferior to
the lightest hurdles.
" I now observed the enemy about ninety yards dis-
tant ; many of them were kneeling on the ground and
firing, but immediately on taking a shot they retired
behind the huts to reload. In this manner they were
keeping up a hot fire. I perceived a man in white upper
garments, but with black trousers ; this fellow knelt and
fired. I immediately took a shot at him with the
' Dutchman,' and without delay I kept loading and
firing my favourite little breech-loader at every man of
the enemy that was decently dressed.
"We should have lost many men if this hiding behind
huts, and popping from cover, had been allowed to con-
tinue. I therefore ordered my ' Forty Thieves ' together,
and ordered the bugler to sound the charge with the
bayonet.
" Pushing through the narrow wicker gateway, I
formed some thirty or forty men in line and led them at
full speed, with fixed bayonets, against the enemy.
" Although the slave-hunters had primed themselves
well with araki and merissa before they had screwed up
courage to attack the troops, they were not quite up to
standing before a bayonet-charge. The ' Forty Thieves '
were awkward customers, and in a quarter of a minute
they were amongst them.
" The enemy were regularly crumpled up ! and had
they not taken to flight, they would have been bayo-
neted to a man.
" I now saw Wat-el-Mek in his unmistakable yellow
suit; he was marching alone across a road about a hun-
16
220 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
dred and eighty yards distant. He was crossing to my
right ; and I imagined, as he was alone, that he intended
to screen himself behind the houses, and then to sur-
render.
" To my surprise, I observed that when he recognized
me, he at once raised his gun and took a steady aim. I
was at that moment reloading ; but I was ready the in-
stant he had fired and missed me.
"He now walked quickly toward a hut across to
my right. 1 allowed about half a foot before him for his
pace, and the ' Dutchman ' had a word to say.
" The bullet struck his right hand, taking the middle
finger off at the root, and then striking the gun in the
middle of the lock-plate, it cut it completely in halves
as though it had been divided by a blow with an axe.
He was almost immediately taken prisoner. One of
'the Forty' (Seroor) was so enraged that he was with
difficulty prevented from finishing Wat-el-Mek with a
bayonet-thrust.
"I now ordered a general advance at the double; and
the troops spread out through the extensive town of
huts, which occupied about thirty acres.
" As we ran through the town, I observed about one
hundred and fifty of the enemy had rallied around
their flags, and were retreating quickly, but steadily, in
the direction of the Shooa hill. They continued to turn
and fire from the rear of their party. Having reduced
the distance to about one hundred and fifty yards, the
crimson silk banners afforded excellent marks for rifle
practices. They fell to the right and left, as the shots
were directed a little low, so as to hit the bearers. In a
few minutes not a flag was to be seen. The fatal
Sniders poured bullets into the dense body of men, who,
after wavering to and fro, as the shots thinned their
number, at length ran off without any further effort to
maintain a formation. For upwards of four miles
Lieutenant Baker and I chased these ruffians with the
'Forty Thieves.' Many were killed in the pursuit; and
upon our return to the camp, at Fatiko, at 2 p.m., we
PROOF OF ALI HUSSEIN'S DEATH. 221
had captured a herd of three hundred and six cattle,
one hundred and thirty slaves, fifteen donkeys, forty-
three prisoners, seven flags, together with the entire
station. The enemy had suffered the loss of more than
half their party killed."
Abdullah's men had behaved shamefully, and all the
fighting had been done by the ' Forty Thieves.' These,
and Baker, and the other officers, had neither eaten nor
drank since the previous evening, except to quaff a little
water as the pursuit ended. They, besides, had walked
ten miles in the morning to reach Fatiko — fought the
traitors — chased them four miles on a run, and then re-
turned four miles.
Baker's wife, who seemed equal to every emergency,
and whose forethought was as remarkable as her pre-
sence of mind in danger, had prepared a warm breakfast
for them, which was eaten with a sharpened appetite.
Baker had asked where the villain Hussein was.
" Dead ! " criad a number of voices.
" Are you certain ? " asked Baker.
" We will bring you his head," was the reply, and
started off.
He had hardly finished his breakfast, when he heard
a heavy thud on the floor of the hut, and turning, saw
there the ghastly head, with the hair matted with blood.
There was no mistaking the villainous expression,
even in death. He had received two bullets, but was
still alive when found. The natives, however, soon dis-
patched him.
Baker, owing to the death, previously, of his chief sur-
geon, and the retirement of another at Gondokoro, had
been left with so weak a medical staff, that he could
take no surgeon with him, and he therefore was now
compelled to act as one himself. In the fight he had not
lost a single man killed, but more than a sixth of
his force had been wounded, some of them badly. He
dressed the wounds with a weak solution of carbolic
acid, and removed a bullet from the broken thigh of one
of his brave " Forty," and soon had them all doing well.
222 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The gun of Wat-el-Mek, which he had shivered with a
bullet, was one given him by Speke in his travels. The
man seemed to be so truly penitent for his conduct, and
averred so stoutly that he acted under the orders of Abou
Saood, and swore so solemnly that he would serve Baker
faithfully in future, the latter, wishing to have his ser-
vices, for he was an invaluable man, finally pardoned him.
Abou Saood swore that he had nothing to do with the
late conspiracy, and though Baker knew that he lied
and ought to be hung, yet he thought it more prudent
to let him alone, and the consummate villain started for
Cairo to lodge a complaint against him with the khedive
of Egypt. From this date all trouble was over. Baker
had gained a complete victory. Perfect confidence was
established among the natives throughout the large
country of Shooli ; the children and women flocked to
the camp ; marketing on a large scale was conducted
quietly, and Baker felt rewarded for all the toils he had
endured ; grieving only for those who had fallen while
aiding him in the good work. Slave-hunting was at an
end down to the equator, fields were planted, and a pros-
perous future seemed in store for Africa.
CHAPTER XIX.
Arrival of cannibals — Children devoured— Small-Pox disperses them — A
grand hunt — The modes of condiicting it by nets and fire — The result
— Life at Fatiko — A second hunt — Killing a lion — A woman's rights
meeting — A happy community, in which neither religious dogmas or
law cases enter — News from Livingstone — King Mtesa — Arrival cf
reinforcements — Bad military conduct — Baker writes out a set of rules
for Abdullah and starts for home — Eeleases captive women and child-
ren— An expression of gratitude not asked for — Kissed by a naked
beauty — Concluding remarks- A missionary's outfit — Official report
— A handsome tribute to his wife — Africa's future.
BAKER now sent to Gondokoro for reinforcements.
In the meantime, a large body of Abou Saood's
slave-hunters, together with three thousand cannibals,
arrived on the Nile from the far west, whom this arch-
traitor had sent for before his downfall, which he had
not anticipated. These wretches were eating the child-
ren of the country as they advanced, and their proximity
filled the people of Fatiko and the Shooli country with
alarm. Baker at once took measures to prevent them
from crossing the Nile. He sent spies among them, and
they finding they had been deceived by Abou Saood,
began to quarrel among themselves — agreeing in nothing
but in devouring the children of the district. Provi-
dentially, at this critical juncture, the small-pox broke
out among them and killed more than eight hundred of
their number, which dispersed the remainder. Abba
Eega had been defeated by Rionga and his allies, and
fled to the shores of the Albert Nyanza.
Everything having at length been put on a peaceful
footing, Baker turned his attention to hunting with the
people of Fatiko, much to their delight, especially as they
were short of meat. When the grass is ready to burn, a
grand hunt always takes place, in which nets form a
conspicuous part. Every man in the country is pro-
vided with a strong net of cord, twelve feet long and
eleven feet deep, with meshes six inches square.
223
224 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
On the day appointed, the big drum is beaten and the
natives assemble and select the region for hunting.
Sometimes a grand entertainment precedes a hunt, at
which the natives to the number of a thousand present
themselves, painted with fresh cow-dung and adorned
with ostrich feathers, leopard skins, etc. On arriving in
the district where the hunt is to take place, the nets are
lashed together and sunk in the grass, making an invis-
ible fence a mile and a half long, while the men lay con-
cealed behind a screen of grass bound together at the top.
When everything was arranged in this hunt, men went
to windward some two miles to set fire to the grass.
The game would, of course, flee before the flames and
rush unsuspectingly upon the nets, when they would be
shot down. Every man is entitled to the game that is
killed in his section of the net. But sometimes an ani-
mal is mortally wounded by a man stationed at his net,
yet finally killed by his neighbor, which often causes
serious quarrels. On this day, when everything was
ready, and the men had already been stationed at regular
intervals about two miles to windward, to wait with
their fire-sticks for the appointed signal, Baker says
that suddenly "a shrill whistle disturbed the silence.
This was repeated at intervals to windward.
"In a few minutes after the signal, a long line of sep-
arate thin pillars of smoke ascended into the blue sky,
forming a band extending over about two miles of the
horizon. The thin pillars rapidly thickened and became
dense volumes, until at length they united and formed a
long black cloud of smoke, that drifted before the wind
over the bright, yellow surface of the high grass.
"The natives were so thoroughly concealed, that no
one would have supposed that a human being beside
ourselves was in the neighborhood. I had stuck a few
twigs into the top of the ant-hill to hide my cap; and
having cut for myself a step at the required height, I
waited in patience.
" The wind was brisk, and the fire travelled at the
rate of about four miles an hour. We could soon hear
DRIVING THE GAME. 225
the distant roar, as the great volume of flame shot high
through the centre of the smoke. The natives had also
lighted the grass a few hundred yards to our rear.
" Presently I saw a slate-colored mass trotting along
the face of the opposite slope, about two hundred and
fifty yards distant. I quickly made out a rhinoceros,
and I was in hopes that he was coming toward me.
Suddenly he turned to my right and continued along
the face of the inclination.
" Some of the beautiful leucotis antelope now appeared
and cantered toward me, but halted when they ap-
proached the stream, and listened. The game under-
stood the hunting as well as the natives. In the same
manner that the young children went out to hunt with
their parents, so had the wild animals been hunted with
their parents ever since their birth.
" The leucotis now charged across the stream ; at the
same time a herd of hartbeest dashed past. I knocked
over one, and, with the left-hand barrel, I wounded a
leucotis. At this moment, a lion and lioness, that had
been disturbed by the fire in our rear, came bounding
along close to where Molodi had been concealed with
the luncheon. Away went Molodi at a tremendous
pace, and he came rushing past me as though the lions
were chasing him; but they were endeavoring to escape
themselves, and had no idea of attacking. I was just
going to take the inviting shot, when, as my finger was
on the trigger, I saw the head of a native rise out of the
grass directly in the line of fire; then another head
popped up from a native who had ^been concealed, and,
rather than risk an accident, I allowed the lion to pass.
At one magnificent bound it cleared the stream and dis-
appeared in the high grass.
"The fire was advancing rapidly and the game was
coming up fast. A small herd of leucotis crossed the
brook, and I killed another, but the smoke had become
so thick that I was nearly blinded. It was, at length
impossible to see ; the roar of the fire and heat was ter-
rific, as the blast swept before the advancing flames and
22G
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
filled the air and eyes with fine black ashes. I literally
had to turn and run hard into fresher atmosphere to get
a gasp of cool air and to wipe ray streaming eyes. Just
as I emerged from the smoke a leucotis came past and
received both the right and left bullets in a good place
before it fell. The fire reached the stream, and at once
expired. The wind swept the smoke on before and left
in view the black surface that had been completely de-
nuded by the flames.
THE ANTELOPE.
"The natives had killed many antelopes, but the
rhinoceros had gone through their nets like a cobweb.
Several buffaloes had been seen, but they had broken
out in different directions. Lieutenant Baker had killed
three leucotis, Abd-el-Kader had killed one and had hit
a native in the leg with a bullet while aiming at a gallop-
ing antelope. I had killed five. I doctored the native,
and gave him some milk to drink, and his friends carried
him home. This was a very unfortunate accident, and
A LEOX HUNT. 227
from that day the natives gave Abd-el-Kader a wide
berth.
" Most of the women were heavily laden with meat,
the nets were quickly gathered up, and with whistles
blowing as a rejoicing, the natives returned homeward."
The time now passed very pleasantly at Fatiko, and
on the 30th of December, Baker went out again to hunt
with a few natives in order to obtain some meat. About
a half an hour after they were in position the whistles
sounded — the smoke began to ascend, and soon a long
line of fire stretched across the plain and moved slowly
toward them. Shots were now heard in various direct-
ions, and the game began to break cover in herds of
several hundreds. Baker could see the game and heard
the firing along the line, but did not get a shot. At
length, however, he saw a buck antelope walking slowly
straight toward him, and he expected in a few minutes
to have him in range, when he says :
" Just at that moment I saw a long, yellow tail rise
suddenly from the green hollow, and an instant later I
saw a fine lion, with tail erect, that had evidently been
disturbed by the advancing fire.
"The lion was down wind of the buck leucotis, which
was now close to the unseen enemy, and was just de-
sendiug tne bank which dipped into the green hollow;
this would bring the antelope almost upon the lion's back.
The two animals appeared to touch each other as the
leucotis jumped down the bank, and the lion sprang to
one side, apparently as much startled as the antelope,
which bounded off in another direction. The lion now
disappeared in the high grass, with the head toward my
position. I whispered to my boys not to be afraid, should
it appear close to me, and at the same time I took the
spare gun from Bellaal and laid it against the ant-hill, to
be in readiness. This was a breech-loader, with buck-
shot cartridges for small antelopes.
" In a few moments, I heard a distinct rustling in the
high grass before me. The two boys were squatting on
the ground to my right.
228 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
"Presently a louder rustling in the grass, within forty
yards in my front, was followed by the head and shoul-
ders of a large lioness, who apparently saw the two boys
and, with her brilliant eyes fixed, she advanced slowly
toward them. Not wishing a closer acquaintance, I
aimed at her chest and fired the 'Dutchman.' The lioness
rolled completely over backwards, and three times she
turned convulsive somersaults, at the same time roaring
tremendously; but, to my astonishment, she appeared
to recover, and I immediately fired my left-hand barrel.
At this, she charged in high bounds straight toward my
two boys. I had just time to snatch up my spare gun
and show myself from behind the ant-hill, when the
lioness, startled at my sudden appearance, turned, and I
fired a charge of buckshot into her hind-quarters as she
disappeared in the high grass from my right. I now
heard her groaning in a succession of deep guttural
sounds, within fifty yards of me. In a few minutes I
heard a shot from Abd-el-Kader, and he shortly came
to tell me that the wounded lioness, with her chest and
shoulder covered with blood, had come close to his hid-
ing-place; he had fired, and had broken her ankle-joint,
but she was still concealed in the grass. The lion is gen-
erally hunted on foot, and the natives are seldom other-
wise armed than with spears. As with the Europeans
and colonists, however, they are for the most part,
accompanied by numerous dogs, which are undoubtedly
a great protection.
"Shooli and Gimoro now came up with some of the
natives, as they had heard the lioness roar, and feared
some accident might have happened. These were very
plucky fellows, and they at once proposed to close up and
spear her in the grass, if I would back them up with the
rifles.
"We arrived at the supposed spot, and, after a search,
we distinguished a yellow mass within some withered
reeds.
" Shooli. now proposed that he should throw his spear,
upon which the lioness would certainly charge from her
K
C
S
H
i— i
2!
O
•s.
•f.
C
2:
A DESPERATE CHARGE. 231
covert and afford us a good shot, if the guns were pro-
perly arranged.
"I would not allow this, but determined to fire a shot
at the yellow mass to bring her out, if every one would
be ready to receive her.
"Lieutenant Baker was on my right with a double-
barreled express rifle that carried a No. 70 bullet. This
minute projectile was of little use against the charge of
a lion.
"I fired into the mass at about twenty yards distance.
The immediate reply was a determined charge, and the
enraged animal came bounding towards us with tremen-
dous roars. The natives threw their spears but missed
her. Mr. Baker fired, but neither he nor a left-hand
barrel from the 'Dutchman' could check her. Every-
body had to run, and I luckily snatched a breech-loading
No. 12, smooth-bore, loaded with ball, from a panic-
stricken lad, and rolled her over with a shot in the chest,
when she was nearly in the midst of us.
"She retreated with two or three bounds to her orig-
inal covert.
"I had now reloaded the 'Dutchman,' and having given
orders that every one should keep out of the way, and be
ready, I went close up to the grass with Shooli, and
quickly discovered her. She was sitting up like a dog,
but was looking in the opposite direction, as though
expecting an enemy in that quarter. I was within
twelve yards of her, and I immediately put a bullet in
the back of her neck, which dropped her head. In an
instant the dogs were clinging to her ears, throat, head,
etc. The brute, who was still alive, grappled bravely
with her assailants. Baker wished to let the dogs finish
the beast, and they did so; though they got badly
wounded in the scuffle."
She measured nine feet and six inches from the nose
to the extremity of the tail. Inside her were the
remains of an antelope calf divided into lumps of about
two pounds each, which the natives distributed among
themselves as precious morsels.
232 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The women, who had come to look on Baker as their
protector, and were happy and contented under his rule,
heard of his encounter with the lioness, and held a meet-
ing in which it was resolved that he should not endanger
his life again in this way. Mr. Baker jocosely remarks
that this was not ''petticoat government, as they had not
a rag on their bodies, but it was an assertion that they
meant to protect the man who had protected them." He
stayed here seven months, and says that perfect order
prevailed — there were no pickpockets, because nobody
had a pocket to pick, for all were naked — there were no
vagrants, beggars or anything to require a police — there
were no cases of divorce, or crim. con., or in chancery —
no high church or low church — no Dissenters, or Cath-
olics, or Independents — no Jews or Gentiles — no conflic-
ting interests — no dogmas of any kind.
To his great disappointment, he had obtained no direct
news from Livingstone. But one day some envoys
arrived from the great King Mtesa, of Uganda, of whom
Stanley speaks in such enthusiastic terms in his next
and last exploring expedition into and through Africa
two years later. Baker had written to him to send out
his people in every direction in search of Livingstone.
These envoys reported that the king had dispatched
messengers to Ujiji, who learned that the explorer had
been there, but had crossed the lake to the west, since
which nothing had been heard of him. Baker im-
mediately wrote a letter to Livingstone, and gave it to
these envoys, of which the following is a copy :
"FORT FATIKO (N. lat. 3° l',E. long. 32° 36').
February 13th, 1873.
"MY DEAR LIVINGSTONE, —
" Mtesa, the king of Uganda, has been searching for
you according to my instructions sent to him in June,
1872. He also forwarded my letters, to be given to you
when met with. His envoys have now visited me at
Fatiko, with the report that Mtesa's messengers heard
of you as having formerly been at Ujiji ; but that you
ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 233
had left that station and had crossed the Tanganika to
the west. Nothing more is known of you. I have sent
a soldier with the envoys who convey this letter ; he
will remain with Mtesa. * * *
" Mtesa will take the greatest care of you. He has
behaved very well to the Government.
" I trust, my dear Livingstone, that this letter may
reach you. Do not come down the lake. It is now well
known that the Tanganika is the Albert Nyanza ; both
known as the great M'wootan N'zige.
" A steamer, I trust, will be on the lake this year.
" Ever, most sincerely,
" SAMUEL W. BAKER, H. H."
Nothing better shows how uncertain all communica-
tion is in Africa than this message of the envoy's and
Baker's letter. Mtesa's dominions are not far distant
from the very lake of which Ujiji is the chief port,
where Stanley found Livingstone, more than two years
before, and with him explored a large portion of it. Still
this report was doubtless true, and the last departure
of Livingstone referred to was the one taken after
Stanley had left. This letter not only reached Mtesa,
but the latter sent an answer back the whole way to
Gondokoro.
No word had been received respecting the reinforce-
ments he had sent for, and Baker began to despair, when,
at last, at the end of three months, they arrived, though
bringing no cattle with them. Tayib Agha, the officer
in charge of them, had shown his utter unfitness to com-
mand troops, for not only had the Baris attacked him
and killed twenty-eight of his men, but stripped the
bodies and left them unburied, and carried off all the
cattle.
Baker had now six hundred and twenty men, and he at
once reinforced the various stations. He also wrote out
a code or set of rules to govern Major Abdullah, who was
to remain in command at Fatiko, and turned his face
homeward. He had placed under his protection a
234 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
number of women and girls of the Baris tribe, whom the
Egyptian officers had pressed into their service to carry
loads for them in their former journey from Gondokoro
to Fatiko, and now took them back with him. Their
captors had intended to make perpetual slaves of them,
but Baker determined to restore them to their homes.
On their way back he directed them to tell him when
they came into their native country. One day, as they
halted under a large tree for breakfast, about two miles
from Gondokoro, the women and children approached
in a timid and hesitating manner and told him that this
was their country and that their villages were near by.
They evidently had never fully believed him, which,
he said, hurt him exceedingly. Looking at them sor-
rowfully, he exclaimed, " Go, my good women, and when
you arrive at your homes explain to your people that
you were captured entirely against my will, and that I
am only happy to have released you." For awhile they
stood bewildered, and, looking around, as if hardly be-
lieving him to be in earnest. The next instant, as the
whole truth flashed on their dazed, overwhelmed hearts,
they rushed on him in a body, and before he had time
to think what they were about, a " naked beauty" threw
her arms about his neck and almost smothered him
with kisses, ending by licking both his eyes and tongue
in a manner far more affectionate than agreeable. If
the sentries and servants had not come to his rescue,
both he and his wife would have been subjected to the
same exhibitions of affection and gratitude from each
member of the naked group.
After a few words of explanation to them, he gave
each a present of beads, when, with hearts overflowing
with joy, they went singing on their way homeward, to
meet friends and relatives they never expected to see
again.
Liberating seven hundred slaves that were on their
way dowrn the Nile, he at last reached Souakim, and
took ship for Suez. Narrowly escaping wreck on the
voyage, he at length arrived safely at Cairo, and laid his
A MISSIONARY OUTFIT. 235
report before the khedive, and also his complaint and
charges against Abou Saood.
In conclusion, he states what he has done, and says
that if the khedive will now do his duty, the slave
trade, by way of the Nile, will be suppressed, civilization
extended to the equator, and the whole vast rich and
populous country be opened to commerce and the mis-
sionary. Speaking of the latter, he says that devotional
exercises he may introduce should be chiefly musical,
and all psalms should be set to lively tunes, which the
natives would learn readily. Moreover, the missionary
should have a never-failing supply of beads, copper rods,
brass rings for arms, fingers and ears, gaudy cotton
handkerchiefs, red or blue blankets, zinc mirrors, red
cotton shirts, to give to his parishioners, and expect
nothing in return, and he would be considered a great
man, whose opinion would carry considerable weight,
provided he only spoke of subjects which he thoroughly
understood. He should also have a knowledge of agri-
culture, and carry with him seeds, tools and implements
of labor.
He and Stanley seem to have views very similar con-
cerning missionary labors, and though they are not
exactly of the orthodox kind, they evidently are very
practical.
In his official report of the conduct of those who
shared with him the dangers and responsibilities of the
expedition, he thus speaks of his noble wife: "Lastly, I
must acknowledge the able assistance that I have re-
ceived, in common with every person connected with
the expedition, from my wife, who cared for the sick
when we were without a medical man, and whose gentle
aid brought comfort to many whose strength might
otherwise have failed. In moments of doubt and
anxiety she was always a thoughtful and wise counselor,
and much of my success, through long years passed in
Africa, is due to my devoted companion."
A handsome, well-deserved tribute to the wife who,
in danger, sickness and battle, had ever stood by him
236 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
with the same fearless, devoted heart. He retired from
his arduous work feeling that he had opened a great
future to Africa.*
CHAPTER XX.
LIEUTENANT CAMERON'S EXPEDITION, f
Its Origin — Change of Leaders — Difficulties at the Outset — Start — A
Tall and Manly Race — Naked Savages — News from Livingstone —
A Methuselah — The Country Improved — Unyanyembe Reached —
Occupies Stanley's House — A Slave Auction — Sickness and Dis-
couragements— A Stunning Blow — Livingstone Dead — Death of
Dillon — Despondent Thoughts — A Desperate Resolve — Crossing the
Lugungwa — Ujiji.
THE English government having refused to send out
an expedition in search of Livingstone, the Royal
Geographical Society of London determined to dispatch
one, and raised the money necessary to carry it out by
subscription. But, before it started, the news that
Stanley had discovered him having been received, the
commander of it, Lieutenant Dawson, resigned. Another
officer was put in his place, but he also resigned. The
position was then given to Oswald Livingstone, son of
the great explorer. But, before the expedition was
ready to start, he also withdrew, and the whole attempt
to reach Livingstone was abandoned. At length it was
resolved to use what remained of the subscriptions to
the expedition to organize another, which should pro-
ceed to Dr. Livingstone, and place itself at his disposal,
to be used by him in completing the great work of ex-
ploration to which he had been devoted for the last six
* Sir Samuel Baker's full history of the expedition, from which we
have been privileged to quote so liberally, is published by Messrs.
McMillan & Co., of London, England, under the title of " Ismailia,"
and is without doubt one of the best written and most entertaining works
on African exploration yet published. Price 810.
fWe are indebted to Messrs Dalby, Isbester & Co., of London,
England, the publishers of Mr. Cameron's Book, "Across Africa," for
the following summary of their publication.
VEXATIOUS DELAYS AND TROUBLES. 237
or seven years. To the command of this, Lieutenant
Cameron was appointed. Taking Dr. Dillon with him
as surgeon, he left England on the last day of November,
1872; but, retarded by vexatious delays and sickness,
he did not start inland from Zanzibar till February of
the next year.
Owing to the faithlessness of a man named Bombay,
who had been of great service to Speke, in his expedition
into Central Africa, the thirty good men and true which
he promised to obtain for him, turned out to be the off-
scourings of the place. Engaging a few more men as
carriers, and buying six dozen donkeys, he left Zanzibar
on the 2d of February, 1873, and set sail for Bagoma^o,
where he arrived the same afternoon. This, as we have
seen, is the principal point of departure for caravans to
Unyanyembe and the countries beyond. He returned to
Zanzibar on the llth, to receive the rest of the stores de-
signed for the expedition, which had just arrived from
England, and where Lieutenant Murphy joined him.
It is needless to go over the delays and troubles that
followed in getting away, but the little caravan was
finally off, on the route which Stanley had taken, just
before Murphy was taken sick with the fever, and he
had to be carried by four men. There had been many
desertions, and vexatious delays, and changes ; but the
expedition, at this time, besides Cameron, Dillon, and
Murphy, and Issa, the store-keeper, consisted of thirty-
five azkari, with Bombay as commander, a hundred and
ninety-two pagasi or carriers, six servants and three
boys — in all, one hundred and forty, besides several
women and slaves, which some of the men took along.
There were also seventy-two donkeys and three dogs,
RO that it made quite an imposing little caravan. Cam-
eron and Dillon had each a double-barreled rifle, besides
revolvers and a double-barreled fowling-piece, which
were carried by the men. Murphy also had two double-
barreled guns. The men had arms of some kind, revol-
vers or muskets, except a few, who carried spears and
bows and arrows. Of the three dogs, Leo, a large, sin-
16
238 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
gular-looking dog — Cameron's special favorite — was ad-
mired much by the natives.
To illustrate the difficulties, and vexations, and delays
inseparable from traveling in Africa, it is necessary only
to state that while we chronicle the start here on the
30th of May, the expedition had really been organized,
and the men under pay, for a whole month. And even
now in starting there was a wrangle respecting the
duties of each, not so much because of the burdens being
unequal to be carried, but because of the distinctions in
rank they indicated.
Through rocky gorges, over steep mountains, the long
caravan now wound its slow way, pressing on toward
Ujiji, in the neighborhood of which Stanley had left
Livingstone, and where they expected to find him. The
region was not new, for Burton, and Speke, and Stanley
had been there before, yet the progress was slow and
difficult — perhaps as slow and difficult as fifteen years
before when some of these explorers first traversed it.
There had been desertions and accretions, till now at
the end of the month, the caravan was over five hundred
strong — destined, alas ! to a terrible diminution in the
coming months. It passed through various tribes, the
different characteristics of which were not very notice-
able, till they came to the Wadingo tribe, a tall and
manly race, despising all such refinements of civilization
as clothing — the men and many of the women being
stark naked, with the exception, perhaps, of a single
string of beads around the neck or wrist. One would
hardly think it worth while, in speaking of clothing, to
guard himself against the charge of misrepresenting, or of
using unguarded language in asserting that the natives
had no clothing, by saying " with the exception of a
string of beads around the neck or wrist."
The progress was slow and toilsome, beset with in-
numerable difficulties, but Cameron was borne up with the
thought that he was nearing the brave Livingstone every
day, and would soon be with him in prosecuting the
great discoveries on the immense water plateau of Cen-
NEWS OF LIVINGSTONE. 239
tral Africa. Through drenching rains, matted swamps,
across wide rivers and over rugged mountains, accom-
panied by knavish, trustless men, met at every step by
extortionate and thievish or hostile tribes, he, at last,
camped at Kanyenze, the largest and most ancient of all
the districts in Ugogo, where he received a visit from a
grandson of Magomba, the head chief, who invited him
to his grandfather's home. But what was more impoi :-
ant, he met here a caravan bound to the sea-coast, frcm
which he received the cheering information that
Livingstone was alive and well, though they could not
tell his exact whereabouts.
Moving on to Kanyenze he found a camp already pro-
vided for him, built by some of the many caravans th \t
pass backward and forward from the interior to the
coast. Cameron found Magomba still living, who was
the chief in power when Burton passed there, in 18L7.
He was said by his subjects to be over three hundred
years old, and to be cutting his fourth set of teeth.
Whether this extraordinary stoiy be true or not, it was
evident that he was over a century old, if one could
judge by his grandchildren, who were gray and grizzled.
Livingstone mentions a similar case, showing the longe-
vity of the African race, the man being, he said, at least
one hundred and thirty years old.
He remained here several days, and then passed on to
Khoko, the largest settlement he had yet seen. Noting
the peculiar customs of the people, he passed on to
Mgunda Mkali, or hot field, which lay between him and
Unyanyembe, paying tribute to every tribe through
whose territory he took his caravan. This last country
was only just beginning to be cleared when Burton and
Speke passed through it, but now there were large tracts
of cultivation. He had heard that Dr. Livingstone had
come to Unyanyembe, but here he was informed by an
Arab caravan that the report was untrue. Still the men
were encouraged at finding themselves safely through the
first part of their journey. The villages that he passed
for the next few days were clean and well built, for sav-
240 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ages. Through tracts of jungle and prairie the caravan
now toiled on, the monotony occasionally relieved by a
snake in the camp, or the desertion of a man, or the
news that Mirambo, a warlike chief, was still holding his
own against the surrounding tribes. At last, in the fore-
part of August, he reached Unyanyembe. The governor
conducted him to a house which he had formerly lent to
Stanley and Livingstone. He occupied the very rooms
where, a short time before, these intrepid travelers had
sat and talked over the field of future explorations and
the future of Africa. The Arabs live in great comfort
here, occupying large and comfortable houses, surrounded
with gardens and fields, -but still troubled, as they were
when Stanley passed through it, by the ravages of Mir-
ambo. Here a part of the men, who had been engaged
only to this point, were paid off and departed for Zanzi-
bar. Cameron expected to hear from Livingstone at this
point and receive orders to proceed to Victoria Nyanza,
but was disappointed. A large auction was held while
he was here, to sell the effects of an Arab chieftain who
had been killed in battle. After the sale of various
articles the slaves were put up. They were led around
and made to show their teeth, to cough and run, and
exhibit their dexterity. They were all semi-domestic,
and, hence, brought high prices — one woman, a good cook,
fetching $200, while the men ranged from $40 to 880.
Cameron stayed here from the 1st of August to the
latter part of October, he or some of his party being
down, most of the time, with fever or some other African
disease. He could hear no tidings from Livingstone,
except that he was somewhere ahead. Cameron was
anxious to proceed at once, but we find at the last
moment the following entry in his journal, which shows
the unpleasantness of the situation. Writing on August
23d, Dillon, who was usually blessed with buoyant
spirits, commenced his letter:
" Now for a dismal tale of woe ! On or about (none
of us know the date correctly) August 13th, Cameron
felt seedy. I never felt better, ditto Murphy. In the
AN UNPLEASANT SITUATION. 241
evening we felt seedy. I felt determined not to be sick.
' I will eat dinner ; I'll not go to bed.' Murphy was be-
tween the blankets already. 1 did manage some dinner;
but shakes enough to bring an ordinary house down
came on, and I had to turn in. For the next four or five
days, our diet was water or milk. Not a soul to look
after us. The servants knew not what to do. We got
up when we liked, and walked out. We knew that we
felt giddy ; that our legs would scarcely support us. I
used to pay a visit to Cameron, and he used to come in
to me to make complaints. One day he said, ' the fellows
have regularly blocked me in — I have no room to stir.
The worst of it is, one of the legs of the grand piano is
always on my head, and people are strumming away on
it all day. It's all drawing room furniture that they
have blocked me in with.' I was under the impression
that my bed was on top of a lot of ammunition paniers,
and I told Murphy I was sorry I could not get away
sooner, to call on him ; but I had the king of Uganda
stopping with me, and I must be civil to him, as we
would shortly be in his country. Murphy pretty well
dozed his fever off, but I never went to sleep from begin-
ning to end. We all got well on the same day, about, I
suppose, the fifth (of the fever), and laughed heartily at
each other's confidences. The Arabs sent every day to
know how we were, or called themselves, bringing sweet
limes, pomegranates or custard apples.
Writing himself, on September 20th, with his troubles
uppermost in his mind, he said :
" I am very savage just at this moment ; I have been
trying for two days to get enough men together to form
a camp a short way out, in order to see all right for
marching, and all the pagosi declare that they are afraid.
I think I am past the fever here, now ; as, although I
have had it six times, the last attacks have been getting
lighter, and the only thing bothering me now is my right
eye, which is a good deal inflamed, but I think it is get-
ting better. It was caused by the constant glare and
dust round the house."
242 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The above is sufficient to show how constantly they
were ill. But something worse than delay or fever now
occurred. The object of the whole expedition had dis-
appeared for ever. Cameron jots down in his journal :
"A sad and mournful day now arrived." As he was
lying on his sick-bed, weak and languid from his re-
peated attacks of fever, his head dizzy with whirling
thoughts of home and its loved ones far away, and with
the thick-coming fancies of what might yet be in store
for him, his servant came running into his tent with a
letter in his hand. Snatching it from him, he asked
where it came from. His only reply was, "some man
bring him." Tearing it open, he read, with a strange,
stunned feeling, the following letter :
" ' UKHONONGO, October, 1873.
" ' SIR :
" ' We have heard, in the month of August, that
you have started from Zanzibar for Unyanyembe, and
again and again, lately, we have heard of your arrival.
Your father died of disease, beyond the country of Bisa,
but we have carried the corpse with us. Ten of our
soldiers are lost, and some have died. Our hunger
presses us to ask you for some clothes to buy provisions
for our soldiers, and we should have an answer, that
when we shall enter there shall be firing guns or not,
and if you permit us to tire guns, then send some pow-
der. We have wrote these few words in place of Sultan
or King Albowra.
" ' The writer, JACOB WAINRIGHT,
" Dr. Livingstone's Expedition.'
" Being half blind, it was with some difficulty that I
deciphered the writing, and then failing to attach any
definite meaning to it, I went to Dillon. His brain was
in much the same state of confusion from fever as mine,
and we read it again together, each having the same
vague idea — 'Could it be our own father who was dead.'
"It was not until the bearer of the letter, Chuma,
ARRIVAL OF LIVINGSTONE'S BODY. 243
Livingstone's faithful follower, was brought to us that
we fully comprehended what we had been reading. The
writer had naturally supposed that the doctor's son was
the leader of the relief expedition. We immediately
sent supplies for the pressing needs of the caravan, and
dispatched a messenger to the coast announcing Dr.
Livingstone's death."
On the arrival of the body, a few days later, Salim
and other chiefs, and the principal Arabs, without ex-
ception, showed their respect to Livingstone's memory
by attending the reception of the corpse, which they
arranged with such honours as they were able. The
askari were drawn up in front of the-house in two lines,
between which the men bearing the body passed ; and
as the body entered, the colours were shown half-mast
high.
Susi, on whom the command had devolved on the
death of Livingstone, brought a couple of boxes belong-
ing to him, and his guns and instruments. He also
stated that a box containing books had been left at
Ujiji, and that shortly before his death, the doctor had
particularly desired that they should be fetched and con-
veyed to the coast.
Dr. Livingstone's death, as far as could be ascertained
from the description given by his men, occurred rather
to the westward of the place marked in the map pub-
lished in 'Livingstone's Last Journal.' He had been
'suffering from acute dysentery for some time, but his
active mind did not permit him to remain still and rest.
Had he done so for a week or two after his first attack,
it was the opinion of Dr. Dillon, upon reading the last
few pages of his journal, that he would most probably
have recovered.
It is not for me here to speak of Livingstone, his life
and death. The appreciation of a whole nation — nay,
more, of the whole civilized world, will testify to suc-
ceeding generations that he was one of the world's
heroes.
And that title was never won by greater patience,
244 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
self-denial and true courage, than that shown by David
Livingstone.
It was now necessary to consider what course they had
better pursue, since he, to whom they were to have look-
ed for guidance, was taken away from them.
Murphy resigned his position, and announced his in-
tention of returning to the coast, on the ground that the
work of the expedition was now completed, and that
nothing further remained for us to do.
Dillon and Cameron decided upon proceeding to Ujiji,
and securing that box to which Livingstone had referred
with almost his last breath/ and after having- safely dis-
patched it to the coast, to push on toward Nyangwe to
endeavour to follow up the doctor's explorations.
They now redoubled their exertions to get away, and
equipped Susi and his companions for the march to
Bagomayo. But, unhappily, Dillon and he were not
destined to go forward together, for a few days prior to
the time fixed for their departure, Dillon was attacked
with inflammation of the bowels, and much against his
wish, felt constrained to return to the coast, as that seem-
ed the only course that gave hope of recovery.
Difficulties crowded at this time very heavily about
our bold explorer. The object for which the whole
expedition was organized could not now be secured. He
could only try to carry out the purpose as he understood
it of Dr. Livingstone. It was a difficult position in
which he found himself, as the plan and design of the
expedition having come to nought, he must return with
nothing done, or take the responsibility of attempting
what migh prove a more disastrous failure still. Besides,
not expecting to go beyond this great lacustrine region
of Central Africa, he had made no arrangements for any
farther explorations. But still he determined that a
movement set on foot by the Royal Geographical Society
of London should not end in nothing done, and he re-
solved to move westward and complete, as far as possible,
Livingstone's work, and, perhaps, push on to the Atlantic
coast. His whole force was reduced to about one hun-
"WESTWARD HO!" 245
dred men; yet, with these, encouraged by the successes
of Livingstone .and Stanley, he determined to proceed.
It was a condition, which, in its sadness, discouragement,
and the fearful forebodings it conjured up, might well
appall the stoutest heart. It was in these circumstances
that Cameron showed that he was worthy to stand beside
Livingstone and Stanley, as one of the most intrepid
explorers of this or of any age. In very simple langu-
age, without any attempt at dramatic effect, and yet, in
its very simplicity, dramatic in the highest sense, he says :
"On the 9th of November, Livingstone's caravan, accom-
panied by Dillon and Murphy, started for the coast,
whilst my cry was ' westward ho ! '"
While trying to enlist men to compose the force, with
which he now proposed to continue his march, and carry
out a project not at all contemplated beforehand, he re-
ceived another shock by the arrival of a messenger, an-
nouncing the death of Dillon, his physician, friend and
mainstay. In the delirium of the African fever — some
firearms having been left near him — he seized a pistol,
and placing the muzzle to his head, blew out his brains.
Thus, discouragements, one after another, were piled on
him to drive him back. Not only was the main object
of the expedition defeated, but his physician, on whom
he depended, was dead, and taken from him under cir-
cumstances calculated to throw a gloom over all his plans.
Not only was he now left alone in the heart of Africa,
but he himself was under the influence of this same
deadly fever, which might end just as tragically. No
wonder, in the sudden despondency produced by this
irreparable loss, he said : " The day on which I received
this news was the saddest of my life. I had lost one of
the best and truest of my old messmates and friends;
one whose companionship, during the many weary hours
of travel and suffering, had helped to cheer and lessen
the difficulties and vexations by which we were so fre-
quently beset. And the shock so stunned me, in my en-
feebled state, that for some days I appeared to have
existed almost in a dream, remembering scarcely anything
24(j EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of the march to Konongo, and leaving my journal a
blank." No wonder that he felt so prostrated and bewil-
dered. The wonder is, that, now left alone, the only
white man in the party — the expedition, so far as accom-
plishing the object, being a failure — exhausted by sick-
ness, and depressed by the loss of his one dear friend —
he did not wheel about and return to Zanzibar, his start-
ing point, instead of turning his face, all alone, to the
untrodden wilderness that lay between him and the
unknown to which he was hastening.
After much delay and troubles with his men, he at
length started forward, and soon came to the spot where
poor Dillon died. He tried in vain to find where he
was buried, in order to put some rude monument over
his grave. He found, at last, that he had been buried
in a jungle, to keep his grave from being desecrated, and
there the true-hearted, brave physician rests to-day —
adding one more to the number of those who have sacri-
ficed their lives in the attempt to solve the mystery of the
dark continent.
It was now December, and Cameron's journal between
this and Ujiji is very similar to that of Stanley, as they
passed over nearly the same district of country. He
took a different road, however, from Stanley, striking
westward between his route and the direct one through
Mirambo's country.
He remained some time at a village named Hinnone,
•waiting to be able to steer clear of Mirambo, who was
carrying on war, as usual, with the native tribes. Some-
times he was sick, sometimes he went hunting, and
would fetch in a gazelle or zebra. He jots down :
" Christmas-day passed very miserably. A heavy rain
commenced the day, flooding the whole village — the ditch
and bank round my tent were washed away, and I had
over six inches of water inside it." Now and then a
ludicrous scene broke the monotony of his dismal jour-
ney. One day he was greatly amused by seeing one of
his guides, who had got possession of an umbrella, strut-
ting along under it with a pompous air. "He kept it
ARRIVAL AT UJIJI. 247
open the whole day," he says, " continually spinning it
round and round in a most ludicrous maner ; and when
we came to a jungle, he added to the absurdity of his
appearance by taking off his only article of clothing —
his loin-cloth — and placing it on his head, after having
carefully folded it. The sight of a naked negro walking
under an umbrella was too much for my gravity, and I
fairly exploded with laughter." Passing village after
village made desolate by the slave-traders, he kept on,
crossing river after river — among others the Lugungwa,
a beautiful stream/which had cut a chanue] fifty feet deep
in the soft sandstone, and not more than eight feet wide
at the top. At length he came in sight of the great in-
land sea of Tanganika. He had finally reached UjijL
His first inquiries were for Dr. Livingstone's papers,
which he found safe in the hands of one of the chief men
of the place.
He arrived at Ujiji in February and remained there
till March, when he set out on a long cruise around Lake
Tanganika, which continued till May. With the excep-
tion of the description of the customs and manners of
some of the tribes that live on its shores, his journal is
of more value to the geographer than to the general
reader.
CHAPTER XXI.
Cameron pushes on to the Lualaba, and resolves to follow it to the sea
— It has no connection with the Nile system — No canoes to be had
— Tipo-tipo — Handsome women — Inqnisitiveness of the women —
Stopped by a ruse — Interview with King Kasougo — resolves to visit
some curious lakes — Attacked by the natives — Contracts with a
slave-trader to take him to the coast — Explorations of lakes — Houses
built in the lakes — Description of Kasongo and his character and
habits — His harem — The rules that govern it — The religion of the
country — A curious bridal cermony — Floating islands — The Congo
route abandoned.
/~^AM-ERON now resolved to push on to the Lualaba,
\J and thence follow the Congo down to the sea. His
first objective point was Nyangwe, where he expected
to obtain canoes for the voyage.
On the 1st of August he reached the Lualaba, having
been two months on the road. Where he struck the
river it was fully a mile wide, dotted with islands and
flowing in a broad, turbid current, at the rate of three
or four knots an hour. The next day he floated down
to Nyangwe. Jumping ashore he entered the settle-
ment alone, much to the astonishment of the natives, to
whom this sudden appearance of a solitary white man
seemed like an apparition.
The great question to be solved now was, could he trace
this river to the sea. No white man but Livingstone had
ever penetrated to this remote spot before : and whether
he should go farther or not depended, in the first place,
upon whether he could get canoes and men to work them,
who would consent to accompany him. That the Luala-
ba had no connection with the Nile system, was now
apparent as noonday, independent of the former dis-
cussions as to the mean heights of this stream and the
Nile. Cameron calculated that the volume of water
passing Nyangwe was one hundred and twenty-three
thousand cubic feet per second, even in the dry season,
which is five times greater than that of the Nile at
248
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT CANOES. 249
Gondokoro, Baker's extreme point of navigation of the
river, where it was only twenty-one thousand five
hundred feet per second. This settled the fact beyond
all controversy, that the Lualaba had nothing to do
with the Nile. It settled, also, another fact, that such
a stream now evidently on the western slope, could
have no connection with any other river flowing west
except with the Amazon of Africa, the Congo. The two
must constitute one river.
After Cameron had remained a fortnight at Nyangwe,
one of the expeditions that had been off after slaves, re-
turned. The men composing it owned the canoes that
Mr. Cameron wanted, and he immediately entered into
negotiations with them for their purchase, but they
would listen to no offers for them. He now began to
despair, when, one day, while sitting listlessly in front
of his hut, he heard the sound of firearms, and knew at
once that another marauding party was returning. It
proved to be the "advance-guard of Tipo-tipo, whose camp
was near a lake called Sankora. Two days after Tipo-
tipo himself arrived.
" He was a good-looking man," Cameron says, " and
the greatest dandy I had seen among the traders. Not-
withstanding he was perfectly black, he was a thorough
Arab in his ideas and manners." He advised Cameron
to return with him to his camp, where he could easily
procure guides to Lake Sankora. So, on the 26th of
August, he commenced getting his party over the river,
preparatory to start with Tipo-tipo for the latter's camp.
Having crossed with a portion of his men and bag-
gage, he left the everlasting Bombay of Stanley to bring
over the rest with the stores. But Bombay, true to his
instincts and character, had returned to the village to
have a big drunk. Cameron, however, determined to go
on to Tipo-tipo's camp, and did, though on the way he
had such an attack of fever that he reeled like a drunk-
en man, and could scarcely drag one foot after another,
they having become so swollen and blistered that he had
to cut open his boots to get relief.
250 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
They at last encamped two miles from Ruzzuna's
village, a friend and ally of Tipo-tipo. This chief, with
a half a dozen wives, came to stay near him while he
remained, and visited him frequently, bringing a new
wife each time. Cameron says : " They were the hand-
somest women I had seen in Africa, and, in addition to
their kilts of gray cloth, wore scarfs of the same material
across their breasts. At first they were afraid of him,
but on the second day all their timidity disappeared, and
they began to examine him very curiously. The pictures
he showed them soon wearied them,and they proceeded to
investigate him personalty. He says: "They turned up
the legs of the sleeping-suit which I always wore in camp,
to discover whether it was my face alone that was
white." They prosecuted their investigations so thorough-
ly, that he saw, if there was not a stop put to it, he
would soon be stripped naked, and he sent for some
beads and shells, and strewing them over the ground,
sent them scrambling after them, and thus escaped their
further scrutiny. Ruzzuna, when he came, brought
with him a handsomely-carved stool, on which he sat,
using the lap of one of his wives, seated on the ground,
as a footstool, on which he planted his feet.
The next thing "in the programme" was to receive a
visit from the great chief or king of the district, Kasongo.
The imposing ceremonies that heralded his approach
would furnish a good example to the crowned heads of
Europe, who in nowise differ from these savage negro
chieftains in their ridiculous pageantry. First, each sub-
chief arrived, preceded by drummers, while his rank was
proclaimed in true European style and his position in
the coming reception made known. Then drumming
and shouting announced the approach of the great man
himself. First came a half a dozen drummers, then thirty
or forty spearmen, followed by six women carrying
shields, and then his negro majesty. A dance followed,
and then a talk was held, in which Cameron informed
him that he wanted to visit Lake Sankora, through
which he believed the Lualaba flowed.
A DISCOURAGING COMMUN [CATION. 251
Two days after, he returned the visit, and was there
informed that the chief of the territory which he must
cross to reach the lake had said that "no strangers with
guns had ever passed through his country and never
should, without fighting their way." Cameron then cast
about to see if he could not get to the lake without pass-
ing through his dominions. Having received, as he
thought, satifactory information on this point, he, on the
12th of September, set out with his guides. From
these he obtained information about two other lakes in
which huts were built on piles, and still another in which
there were floating islands covered with inhabitants.
For several days they journeyed through a fairly-popu-
lated country, "with large villages of well built and
clean huts disposed in long streets with bark-cloth trees
planted on each side" — all the streets running east and
west. The natives seemed friendly, and they travelled
on quietly for several days; but this friendly conduct at
last changed, and Cameron found his road ambushed and
arrows thickly falling around him. He learned after-
ward that he had been mistaken for a slave-trader. He
finally had to resort to retaliation, and after burning one
hut and wounding one man, was allowed to leave quietly
the last village, where hostilities had been commenced.
The next village, however, showed the same hostile feel-
ing, and he was compelled to kill two or three and
wound several more before peaceful relations could be
established. He at length arrived in King Kasongo's
dominions, where he found a trader named Judah Meri-
kani, who had travelled the country extensively. He
had seen Livingstone, Speke and Burton. He found
here, also, a Portuguese trader, but, though he could speak
Portuguese, he was an old and ugly negro.
Here, also, he made an agreement with a man named
Alvez, to conduct him to the Atlantic coast ; but as the
latter said he could not start under a month, Cameron
resolved to spend the intermediate time — as he could not
reach Sankora — in exploring the neighboring lake of
Moheya, in which, it was said, houses were built on piles.
252 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
But, before starting, he visited Kasongo's capital, which
was about one hundred rods long by thirty wide, and
surrounded by a neat fence of sticks five feet high, in the
centre of which was his dwelling. He was absent, but
his chief wife received him courteously, and after many
questions as to where he came from and what he wanted,
made him take off his boots and stockings, that she
might examine his feet.
After some parleying, she consented to give him a
guide to Lake Moheya. He started on the 30th of Octo-
ber, and came in sight of the lake two days after, and
in it found three villages built on piles, besides several
detached huts scattered over its surface. He could get
no canoes to visit them, and had to be content with a
distant view of them through his glass. They were built
on platforms raised about six feet from the water, and
resting on piles driven into the bed of the lake. Under-
neath them canoes were moored, while men could be
seen swimmiug from hut to hut.
Kasongo not arriving, and his return being uncertain,
he determined to visit some other curious lakes in this
region. But, before starting, he gives a description of
the large district of Urua, which extends from this point
to Lake Tanganika. This vast territory is governed by
King Kasongo. He thus speaks of him and his religion :
" Kasongo, or the chief for the time being, arrogates
to himself divine honors and power, and pretends to ab-
stain from food for days without feeling its necessity ;
and indeed declares, that as a god he is altogether above
requiring food, and only eats, drinks and smokes for the
pleasure it affords him.
" In addition to his chief wife and the harem main-
tained in his private' inclosure, he boasts that he exer-
cises a right to any woman who may please his fancy
when on his journeys about the country ; and if any be-
comes enceinte, he gives them a monkey-skin for the
child to wear, if a male, as this confers a right to live by
taking provisions, cloth, etc., from any one, not of the
royal blood.
KASONGO'S HOUSEHOLD AKRANGEMENTS. 253
" Into the inclosure of his harem no male but himself
is allowed between sunset and sunrise, on pain of death
or mutilation ; and even if one of the harem should give
birth to a male child during the night, the mother and
infant are bundled out immediately.
" His principal wife and the four or five ranking next
to her, are all of royal blood, being either his sisters or
first cousins ; and amongst his harem are to be found
his step-mothers, aunts, sisters, nieces, cousins, and still
more horrible, his own children.
" As might be expected from such an example, morals
are very lax throughout the country, and wives are not
thought badly of for being unfaithful ; the worst they
may expect being severe chastisement from the injured
husband. But he never uses excessive violence, for fear
of injuring a valuable piece of household furniture.
" When Kasongo sleeps at home, his bed-room furn-
iture consists of members of his harem. Some on hands
and knees form a couch with their backs, and others
lying flat on the ground, provide a soft carpet.
" It is the rule for all Warria to light their fires them-
selves and cook their own food, Kasongo being the only
one exenipt from this observance ; but should either of
the men appointed to do this service for him, by any
chance be absent, he then performs these duties himself.
" No Warna allows others to witness their eating or
drinking, being doubly particular with regard to mem-
bers of the opposite sex ; and on pombe being offered, I
have frequently seen them request that a cloth might be
held up to hide them whilst drinking.
" Their religion is principally a mixture of fetish and
idolatry. All villages have devil-huts and idols before
which offerings of pombe', grain and meat are placed,
and almost every man wears a small figure round his
neck or arm. Many magicians also move about with
idols, which they pretend to consult for the benefit of
their clients ; and some being clever ventriloquists, man-
age to drive a flourishing business.
" But the great centre ot their religion is an idol named
17
254 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Kunqud a Banza, which is supposed to represent the
founder of Kasongo's family, and to be all-powerful for
good or evil. This idol is kept in a hut situated in a
clearing amidst a dense jungle, and always has a sister
of the reigning chief as a wife, who is known by the
title of M wali a Panga. Round the jungle live a number
of priests, who guard the sacred grove from all profane
intruders, and receive offerings for the idol, and also a
large portion of the tribute paid to Kasongo. But, al-
though they hold this official position, and are thus in-
timately connected with all the rights and ceremonies
pertaining to the deity, they are not permitted to set
eyes upon the idol itself, that privilege being reserved
for its wife and the reigning sovereign, who consults it
on momentous occasions, and makes offerings to it upon
his accession, and after gaining any great victory over
his adversaries. Notwithstanding my efforts, I could
not discover the exact position of this idol's habitation,
but am perfectly convinced of its existence, as all the
accounts I received were precisely similar on all ma-
terial points."
As there appeared no prospect of Kasongo's return,
Cameron asked the queen for guides to visit Lake Kasali,
that he had heard of. She promised to do so, but kept
deferring taking any steps in the matter till he got
wearied out, and securing a guide himself, started off.
Arriving at a village on the way, he witnessed a
curious bridal ceremony. A head man and a niece of
the chief were to be married. The first day of the cere-
mony was devoted to dancing, in which yells, and shouts,
and rude music made a continual din from morning till
night. The next day the bridegroom danced alone for
an hour, when a circle was formed, and the bride, a child
nine years old, was brought in on the shoulders of a wo-
man and given some tobacco and beads by the bridegroom.
" After this ceremony was concluded, the bride was set
down and danced with the bridegroom, going through
the most obscene gestures for about ten minutes, when
he picked her up, and tucking her under his arms, walked
FLOATING ISLANDS. 255
her off to his hut." The dancing and yelling continued,
and was still going on when Cameron left next day.
He at length came to a village in sight of the lake,
but there the wife of the chief forbade his farther ad-
vance. The husband was with Kasongo, and thither
Cameron sent messengers to get permission to proceed
to the lake, but could not obtain one. He sent some of
his men, however, to it, who reported that a large
number of natives lived on floating islands in it. These
were made of " large pieces of tiugi-tingi, cut from the
masses with which the shore is lined." On these, logs
and brushwood are placed and covered with earth.
Huts are then built and bananas are planted, while
goats and poultry are reared upon then. They were
usually moored to stakes driven into the bed of the lake,
that are pulled up when the people wish to shift their
locality, and lines thrown around other stakes, by which
the heavy mass is slowly towed along.
When Cameron returned, he asked Alvez when they
could start. He replied he was all ready whenever Ka-
songo got back. This was in December, but Kasongo
did not return till the end of next month, and even then
he was delayed by the falsehood and cowardliness of
Alvez. Kasongo received him with barbaric ceremony,
and he thought he would now soon be off. But he was
destined to disappointment. This savage king, who
thought himself the greatest man in the world, seemed
in no haste to lose his novel guest — while he absolutely
refused to give his consent to let him visit Lake
Sankora.
Cameron was now compelled, with great reluctance, to
give up his cherished plan to trace the Congo to its
mouth, and to seek the Atlantic coast in another direc-
tion by land.
CHAPTER XXII.
The Departure — Character of the Caravan — Horrible ceremonies at the
Burial of a Chief of Urua — Start of the Caravan — Its bad conduct
— Joined by^a slave-gang — Its sorrowful appearance — The camps
of the caravan — Dreary marching — Appearance of the country —
Naked women dressing their hair elaborately — Arrival at Alvez
village — The luxury of Coffee, Onions and Soap — Eeduced state of
Cameron's men — Beaches a Portuguese trader's house — A festival —
A lascivious dance — Beautiful scenery — Interview with King Kongo
— Cameron's sufferings begin — Desperate condition — A forced march
to the sea with a few men — First sight of the sea — His welcome —
His dangerous sickness — Visit to the Consul at Loanda — Men sent
to Zanzibar — His return home — The slave trade.
/CONSPIRACIES, duplicity and falsehood kept delay-
\J ing the departure of the caravan, so that it did not
get off till the 25th of February.' Thus months of valu-
able time had been almost entirely wasted. But time
seems to be of no account in Africa, and the great object
apparently is not to get a thing done, but to see how
long they can keep from doing it.
The undisciplined, motley caravan to which he intrust-
ed himself numbered, at the outset, some seven hundred;
but before they left the kingdom of Urua, Alve'z had
collected over one thousand five hundred slaves to take
to the coast.
They marched slowly, and, after three days reached
the village of Totelo, where they found Kasongo. Here
another long delay occurred, in order to build Kasongo a
house. During the tedious weeks that followed, Cam-
eron busied himself in writing, drawing, taking lunars
and working them out. Evenings he would stroll out
with his gun and shoot guinea-fowl and wood-pigeons
to replenish his larder. An occasional visit to one of the
chiefs varied the monotony. He says:
" I also busied myself in collecting a vocabulary of
Kirna and in inquiring into the manners and customs of
the people, and by this means became acquainted with
256
SAVAGE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 257
the ceremonies observed at the burial of a chief of Urua,
which are probably unequaled in their savagery.
"The first proceeding's to divert the course of a stream
and in its bed^to dig an enormous pit, the bottom of which
is then covered with living women. At one end a woman
is placed on her hands and knees, and upon her back the
dead chief, covered with his beads and other treasures, is
seated, being supported on either side by one of his
wives, while his second wife sits at his feet.
" The earth is then shoveled in on them, and all the
women are buried alive with the exception of the second
wife. To her custom is more merciful than to her com-
panions, and grants her the privilege of being killed
before the huge grave is filled in. This being completed,
a number of male slaves — sometimes forty or fifty — are
slaughtered and their blood poured over the grave ; after
which the river is allowed to resume its course.
" Stories were rife, that no fewer than one hundred
women were buried alive with Bambane, Kasongo's
father; but let us hope that this may be an exaggeration.
" Smaller chiefs are buried with two or three wives,
and a few slaves only are killed that their blood may be
shed on the grave ; whilst one of the common herd has
to be content with solitary burial, being placed in a sit-
ting posture with the right fore-finger pointing heaven-
ward, just level with the top of the mound over his
grave."
When everything at last was ready for a start, Alvez
insisted on going through a ridiculous ceremony to pro-
pitiate the sun and guard them against fire on the way.
The next day, however, June 10th, the caravan took its
departure, and in its march through the country plun-
dered every small party they met on the road, robbing
fields of their fruit, and seizing everything they desired
which fell in their way.
Thus they traveled for four days, crosssing four rivers
on their route. The country during this time had been
wooded and hilly, but they now came to a succession of
level plains, indented with the tracks of a herd of ele-
258 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
phants, that Cameron thought must have numbered over
five hundred animals. They at length reached the vill-
age of Lunga Mandi, where Cameron was shown the spot
on which the first white trader had pitched his camp.
Leaving this place, they made a march and came to a
village where Coimba, who was on a slave-hunt for Kas-
ongo, was to join them.
He came up in the afternoon with fifty-two women,
tied together in lots of seventeen or eighteen. Some
had children in their arms, others were far advanced in
pregnacy, and all carried heavy loads. They were foot-
sore and covered with welts and scars, showing how un-
mercifully they had been treated. To obtain them, ten
villages had been destroyed, containing a population in
all, of one thousand five hundred. .Alvez claimed a part
of these slaves, to pay him for waiting, and they were
given him.
With this additional amount of misery engrafted on
the caravan, it next day started forward again. It con-
sisted of several camps — one composed of Cameron and
his men ; another of Alvez, with his people and their
slaves ; a third, of Coimba, his wives and slave-gang ;
Bastian, a fourth ; two independent parties, and two more,
made up of different tribes, completed the whole. The
long procession moved on over the diversified country
and past numerous villages without any exciting inci-
dent to vary the tedious monotony of the journey, and
came at last to Lupanda^. where the caravan halted a
day. Here Cameron had some conversation with the
natives, as well as trials of physical strength in holding
out weights at arm's length, in which he excelled them
all. Keeping on their south-western course, they at
length, on the 25th of July, reached the territory of Ul-
unda, a long, narrow strip of country, about one hundred
miles wide where they entered it.
The next territory was Lovali, the tedious march to
which was varied by the escape of a number of slaves.
Their condition was becoming fearful — the ropes that
confined them were eating into their flesh, while dome
A DREARY MARCH. 259
of the women were carrying dead infants, that had died
from starvation. Cameron was powerless to help them,
and could only rejoice at the escape of any.
The march of this caravan is hardly worth recording.
Starting from the Lualaba, and striking south-west
through an unknown region, it was reasonable to expect
that new and interesting revelations would be made.
On the contrary, the scenery, for the most part possessed
but little interest, being tame compared with that on the
eastern slope, as the traveler approaches the great lake
plateau, with its grand mountain ranges. There was
not even the excitement of forcing their way through
hostile tribes — for the caravan was too large to admit of
resistance, while its gang of slaves closed every village
which they passed against them. Hence it was a dreary,
monotonous march through a country without fine scenery
— past villages they could not enter — without incident,
and remarkable only as it revealed a vast region of
savage life, that formed a part of a great continent thickly
populated, over which is spread the very blackness of
darkness.
Cameron was now traveling on a line that would fetch
him to the sea at a rather sharp angle. To state it more
accurately, he had started at about five degrees south
latitude, and on the course he was taking would come
out nearly fifteen degrees south latitude, or, in round
numbers, some seven hundred miles south of the point
where Stanley was destined £o emerge on the Atlantic.
Cameron's account of the march through the Lovali
country is perhaps a fair specimen of the whole route
after he left the Lualaba till he reached the Portuguese
settlements on the Atlantic. He says: " The first part
of the Lovali country consisted of a continuation of
large, open plains,, patches of forest and jungle, and
many neatly-built villages. The huts were square,
round and oval, having high roofs — in some instances,
running into two or three points." The marching, he
says, was free from any variety. Delays by runaway
slaves — old slave-camps on the road — " fetishes " of the
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
natives — their curious customs, were the only things
worth noting.
On the 28th of August, they came to the principal
village of the kingdom, named Katende. Here Cameron
heard of Livingstone, who had passed through this place
on his journey across Africa, nearly thirty years before.
It seemed that the principal impression that Livingstone
mad*e on the natives here was that he rode an ox.
Cameron was now getting reduced very low in the
articles which he could use in the way of barter to pro-
cure what he wanted.
The caravan, however, pressed steadily on, over enor-
mous plains, which are flooded in the wet season, and
arrived on the 7th of September, at the village of Sha
Kembe, the last in the district of Lovali, through which
they had been so long inarching. He describes the
customs of the natives here, and says : " The women de-
vote most of their time to dressing their hair, which is
a very elaborate performance, and when finished is
plastered with grease and clay, and made permanently
smooth and shiny." With regard to their attentions to
the adornment of other portions of their bodies, he says :
"That a stick of tape would have clothed the female
population of a half a dozen villages."
Caravans were frequently met, but no news could be
obtained from the outside world.
At length, in the forepart of October, the caravan
arrived at the village where Alvez lived, who was re-
ceived by the inhabitants with shouts and yells, and a
general drunk followed. Here the carriers were paid
off, and Cameron began to cast about for new guides to
the coast. He stayed here a week, which, compared
with those that made up the last year, was one of
luxury, for, on being well paid, Alvez supplied him with
coffee, onions, and soap. This last article he had been
without for a year, and he gave himself a thorough
cleansing, which greatly revived him. Alvez's settle-
ment was very much like those^of thetnatives, except
some of the huts were larger.
NEAEING THE ATLANTIC COAST. 261
Cameron was now approaching Portuguese settle-
ments, near the coast, and it was recessary to buy pro-
visions for the march, and clothes to clothe his people
before entering civilized society. All his European
cloth had disappeared, and his men were dressed in rags
of grass cloth, often so scant that the wearers might as
well have been stark naked. Alvez supplied his wants,
but cheated him in doing so. Cameron, however, felt
he was at his mercy and paid him his prices, and was
finally off on the 10th of October. He was glad to get
rid of him and his great caravan, with its suffering
slaves, and turned his face resolutely toward the coast.
After passing several villages, he came to the town of
Kagnombe, the largest he had yet seen — being three
miles in circumference. A ceremonial visit to the brag-
gart chief of it ended in the latter getting beastly
drunk, when Cameron wandered about the town noting
the peculiarities of the place and its savage customs.
The next morning, after a walk of a few hours, he ar-
rived at the settlement of Senor Goncalves, a Portuguese,
who had formerly been master of a ship, but had finally
settled down in this remote region. He owned six
villages, the inhabitants of which were practically his
slaves. Each one furnished a caravan, by which he
kept up a brisk trade with the coast, and lived in luxury
and comfort here, in the healthy uplands of Bibi. For
the first time for nearly two years Cameron now slept
between sheets.
It was a long and weary distance yet to the coast,
but somewhat refreshed by this slave-trader's hospi-
tality, he set otf again, and passing village after village,
at length came to Lungi, where there was to be, the
day after his arrival, an important festival, and as a
natural consequence a big drunk. Of course, his men
refused to travel till it was over. At the appointed
time, the inhabitants assembled under a huge banyan
tree, and began to sing, and dance, and drink their
pombe'. The men and women danced together, their
suggestive motions being accompanied by ribald songs,
262 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
and the scene was one of licentiousness almost beyond
belief. It was one of those scenes that exhibit in the
strongest colors the utter debasement of the savage
tribes of Africa.
He had some difficulty in getting away from here,
owing to the rheumatism and swollen feet of many of
his people, caused by the wet and cold. At length they
were off, and he says :
" Almost directly after starting, we came upon rocky
hills, with brawling streams rushing along their rugged
courses, and here and there falls, from twenty to thirty
feet in height, the crystal water sparkling in the sun-
light, as it dashed from crag to crag. Large tree ferns
grew on the banks, and amongst the bushes were
myrtle, jasmines, and other flowering shrubs, whilst a
variety of beautiful ferns, similar to maiden-hair, and
other delicate kinds, flourished in the damp crevices of
the rocks.
"As we went forward the scenery increased in beauty,
and at last I was constrained to halt and surrender my-
self to the enjoyment of the view which lay before me.
I will content myself with asserting that nothing could
be more lovely than this entrancing scene, this glimpse
of a paradise. To describe it would be impossible, neither
poet, with all the wealth of world-imagery, nor painter,
with almost supernatural gei.ius, could by pen or pencil
do full justice to the country of Bailunda. In the fore-
ground were glades in the woodland, varied by knolls
crowned by groves of large, English-looking trees,
sheltering villages, with yellow thatched roofs; planta-
tions, with the fresh green of young crops and bright
red of newly-hoed ground in vivid contrast, and running
streams flashing in the sunlight; whilst in the far dis-
tance were mountains of endless and pleasing variety of
form, gradually fading away, until they blended with
the blue of the sky. Overhead there drifted fleecy-
white clouds ; and the hum of bees, the bleating of goats
and crowing of cocks broke the stillness of the air.
" As I lay beneath a tree, iu indolent contemplation of
ON THE WEST HIGHLANDS, NEAR THE CONGO.
Where Afric's sunnj fountains roll cown their golden sand."
<
I— I
PLn
DESPERATE STATE OF AFFAIRS. 265
the beauties of nature in this most favoured spot, all
thought of the work still before me vanished from my
mind; but I was rudely awakened from my pleasant
reverie by the appearance of the loaded caravan, with
the men grunting, yelling, and laboring under their
burdens. Thus the dream of fairy-land was dispelled
and the realities of my work, with its toil and trouble,
returned.
" That evening we encamped in a wood, a clear space
having literally to be cut out of the masses of sweet-
scented creepers which festooned the trees."
Cameron here turned aside to visit the Kongo chief of
the Bailunda at his capital, Kambala. The huts were
built on a hill-side among rocks, and were surrounded
by a palisade. He was kept some time waiting for his
appearance, sitting on a stool — several of which sur-
rounded an old arm-chair that served as a throne for the
sable monarch. Kongo, at last, entered, dressed in a
much-faded and dilapidated uniform, with a huge,
battered cocked hat on his head, and being very aged
and much under the influence of drink, he had to be
helped along and placed on his throne. He was too
drunk to know what he was about, and Cameron having
presented him with a gun, retired. Though now near
the coast, among people who had more or less inter-
course with white men, Cameron began to suffer more
severely than he had at any time since leaving the
Lualaba. He had now been some two months pushing
his way slowly in a south-westerly direction, since he
abandoned the effort to follow the Congo to the sea.
Through the various provinces and districts, and past
innumerable villages, the caravan had pressed on with-
out serious inconvenience ; the natives either being too
peaceably inclined or too weak to offer any resistance.
But, now, his men were gradually giving out — getting
every day more unfit to march — and, at the best, made
such short ones that the coast, practically, was yet a
great way off. Added to this, the rain set in, and the
weak, discouraged, foot-sore caravan, as it slowly dragged
266 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
itself over the wet ground, looked like a long funeral
procession. Besides, the only money that could buy
food had given out — both cloth and trinkets. Stragglers
also disappeared and had to be waited for or hunted up
— one died and was thrown into a jungle because, if
buried, the grave might be discovered and they be de-
layed to settle the matter with the natives. Things
were getting in a desperate condition. At last, one day,
they had been six hours on the march, in a pouring
rain, and yet were compelled to rest so often that they
had been moving onward only two hours and a-half,
Cameron now saw that something decisive must be
done. He found that he was yet one hundred and
twenty-six miles from the coast, while upwards of
twenty men were sick or lame, and all hungry and
filling the air with their groans and complaints. When,
therefore, they went into camp, he took his pipe and sat
down to think over his situation, and, after a half an
hour's reflection, resolved to throw away his tent, boat,
bed — everything but instruments, journals and books —
and, selecting a few strong men, make a forced march to
the sea, and send back assistance to the main body. So,
early on the following morning, taking five of his own
men, and some natives who joined him after his visit to
Kongo and hence were fresh, he started. All he had in
the way of provisions, or anything to purchase them
with for himself personally, were a half a fowl, a little
flour, and two yards of cloth. They made a sharp
march the first day and, at night, pitched their camp on
a mountain, five thousand eight hundred feet above the
sea. Up with the dawn they pushed on again, meeting
caravans from the coast, bound inland, the leaders
astonished at seeing a white man on foot and none but
natives for his companions.
After eleven hours of stiff' marching, they were com-
pelled to go into camp at an elevation of nearly four
thousand feet above the sea. At five o'clock the next
morning they were off again — passing cultivated fields,
the owners of which, however, would enter into no
FIRST SIGHT OF THE SEA. 267
negotiations for the sale of food. At two o'clock they
came suddenly upon a village so entirely hidden by
rocks and trees, that they did not see it till they were
almost at the entrance. Here they got a little flour,
and pushed on. That night Cameron was completely
fagged out, having been on his feet eleven hours.
The next day, the way became fearfully rough, and
the tired travelers were compelled to crawl on their hands
and knees over rocks and slide down into deep ravines,
and then climb their precipitous sides by aid of vines,
while graves and skeletons along the path told how many
had lain down and died on this terrible march. Clogs
and forks of wood were lying by their side, telling the
sad story of the fate of many a slave who, wearied with
his long, painful journey from the interior, finally suc-
cumbed here, getting a happy release from the sufferings
of the middle passage and the brutality of a task-master.
At night they encamped near a village, and Cameron
offered all the cloth he had for a little milk, which was
refused, and he had to borrow more from one of the cara-
vans before he could get it, and then found it sour. He
passed a feverish, painful night, but was off at half-past
four in the morning, and soon met noisy caravan after
caravan pushing inland. At length, with much hard
scrambling, he reached the summit af a ridge, and looking
off westward, asked himself, with eager anxiety.
" What is that distant line upon the sky ?"
At length he exclaimed, in rapture, " The sea ! the
sea !" His men took up the shout, and " the sea ! the
sea !" went up in one exultant cry. But the welcome
sight did not give them strength, and they crawled wear-
ily over the ground, and at four o'clock were obliged to
stop and go into camp.
The next morning they were compelled to march
through a pass that was like a furnace, from the reflec-
tion of the sun's rays striking against the rocks. That
night was the last passed out of civilization. Before
sunrise the next morning they weie on the march, and
soon came in sight of the sea and a little later of Katom-
268 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bella, situated on the shore. Swinging his rifle over his
head, Cameron ran down the slope, crazed with joy, and
in a short time was in the house of Monsieur Cauchoix,
an old officer of the French navy, who had settled as
merchant at Benguella. Here they were all provided
with quarters and as much food as they desired, and
soon the men were all gloriously drunk.
Cameron having dispatched relief to the main body,
now turned his attention to himself. His mouth, which
had begun to bleed the day before, suddenly grew worse
— his tongue became so swollen that it protruded out of
his mouth, from which the blood flowed profusely, while
he was unable to speak or swallow.
ID the meantime his body was covered with blotches,
purple, blue and green, and he was threatened with im-
mediate suffocation. The doctor of the hospital was sent
for, who began at once to apply powerful remedies.
Yet, in so dangerous a condition did he consider him to
be, that he did not leave his side for forty-eight hours.
Had this attack seized him a day sooner, when away
from medical aid, he would inevitably have died. It
was a narrow escape. He now began to mend rapidly,
and on November llth, the rest of his men came in, ex-
cept one, who had died since he had left them on his
forced march. Bombay celebrated his deliverance by
getting drunk and abusing everybody, not excepting
the host, Cauchoix, himself. Cameron wished to flog
him, but those whom the drunken brute had abused
interceded for him, and he was let off.
Here he came across a queer specimen of a Yankee,
who was in the employ of Cauchoix. He asked Cam-
eron whether he had been traveling " on his own hook,"
or been " working for a company." He said he should
like to have been with him, but " he didn't care about
the darned walking." Among other things, he had been
master of an American barque, and traded in snakes,
that he found up some African river. He liked the
business, he said, and asked Cameron if he could easily
get hold of some big snakes.
WELCOME AT HOME. 269
A fortnight later he and his men were landed in the
harbor of Loanda by a little Portuguese steamer, that
had been ordered to convey him there. Cameron went
at once to the English consulate. As the consul entered
the room where he was awaiting his arrival, the latter
said, " I have come to report myself from Zanzibar,
overland."
The consul stared at him a moment in blank surprise,
then, stepping quickly forward, and placing both his
hands on his shoulders, exclaimed: "Cameron! my
God!"
He was detained here some time in getting a ship to
convey his men back to Zanzibar ; but at last he saw
them aboard a ship and sail out of the harbor, and then
took a steamer for home, and on the 2d of April arrived
in the Mersey, and was welcomed by scores of delighted
friends, who never expected to see him again.
More than three years had passed since he first set
sail on his perilous expedition, much of the time having
been spent in the very heart of Africa. He had heard
nothing of Stanley, and now public attention was
turned to this daring explorer. Would he accomplish
more than this man who had crossed the continent
without one white man as a companion, or would he
leave his bones in some African forest ? It will be seen
in the following chapters what he was doing, and, in the
end, accomplished.
As Mr. Stanley went over the same ground that
Cameron gave most of his attention to, we have not
dwelt on the discoveries of the latter, because the
former explored it more thoroughly, and hence the
results of his work will be more satisfactory to the
reader.
The iniquitous slave trade occupies the same promin-
ence in Cameron's sight that it did in Livingstone's,
and as it does in Baker's and Stanley's estimation, and
he says, in conclusion : " The question now before the
civilized world is, whether the slave-trade in Africa,
which causes, at the lowest estimate, an annual loss of
270 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
over a half a million of lives, is to be permitted to con-
tinue. Every one worthy of the name of a man will
say, ' No ! ' But it is not to be stopped by talking and
writing. Every one must put his shoulder to the
wheel — some to aid commerce, and some missionary
effort, till civilization and light are forced into the heart
of the dark continent."
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY ON CAMERON'S
NEW ROUTE.
Beyond the ranges of Kilimacho and Nyoka are broad
and well- watered plains, extending to Kalomba, east of
which is a shallow basin about five or six miles across,
where the soil is salt and there are some salt springs.
From Kalomba to Lunga Mandis, the country con-
sisted of wooden hills, flat-topped table-lands of sand
and broad marshes bordering streams. The channel of
the river is continually changing, and in a year or two
no trace remains of its former course. This is owing to
the growth of semi-aquatic vegetation, which quickly
closes up every space where the water does not flow
rapidly ; and this accounts for the fact that towards the
end of the dry season, the actual channel is much smaller
than in the rainy.
If these swamps prove to be the modern representa-
tives of the old coal-measures, we should find ferns,
papyrus — especially its roots; trees — some fallen on
their sides and half-rotten, others still standing, and
stumps and grasses amongst the vegetable fossils ; whilst
those of the animal kingdom should include skeletons
of mud-fish and frogs, and also of an occasional croco-
dile, buffalo or hippopotamus.
The country in Ussambi consisted mostly of flat-
topped sandstone hills. Strata of red and yellow sand-
stone alternated, and between them and the granite
were usually masses of water-worn pebbles.
Ulunda is a thickly- wooded country, with gentle
undulations and occasional savannahs or meadows,
THE KIBOKWI COUNTRY. 271
watered by numberless streams, most of them running
northward to the Kongo.
At its western side, broad plains stretch right across
Lovali. They are light and sandy in the dry season,
with belts of trees along the different watercourses in-
tersecting them, but during the rains become quagmires
and morasses. The water-shed between the Zambesi
and Kongo basins lies along the centre of these plains
— which in the annually rainy season are waist-deep in
water, and the two basins then actually join.
West of L ivali, is the county of Kibokwi, where the
rise out of the centrnl depression becomes very marked,
and the country is nearly all covered with forests. Bee
culture is here the chiet occupation of the natives. The
large trees are utilized to support their beehives, the
produce of which forms a considerable and profitable
item of barter. They exchange the wax for all the
foreign trade goods they require, and from the honey
make a sort of mead, which is strong and by no means
unpalatable. The people work iron tastefully and well.
They obtain the ore from the nodules found in the beds
of the streams. The basins of the Kongo and Zambesi
terminate in the western portion of Kibokwi, where
that of the Kwanza commences.
The country of Bihi is entered after the Kwanza is
crossed — the eastern portion being formed of wooded
hills of red sandstone, with many running brooks and
rills, whilst in the western part are wide prairies and
bare downs, with a few patches of wood. A peculiar
feature is the number of streams which flow underground
for a portion of their course, the most remarkable in-
stance being the " Burst of the Kulato," the boundary
between Bihi and Hailunda. The eastern portion of
Bailunda is moderately level, with rocky hills, on the
summits of which are situated the villages of the chiefs;
but, as the western portion is reached, the country breaks
into muun tains of every shape and form, among which
are needles and cones of granite. In the foreground the
hills are of red sandstone, crowned with groves of mag-
18
272 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
nificent trees, festooned with jesamines and other sweet-
scented creepers.
At the western side of Bailunda the caravan reached
the culminating point of the section across the continent.
A mountainous and rocky tract lies between this and
the west coast. In some of the passes the solid granite
hills are cupola and dome-shaped, like the £uy-de-Dome,
in Auvergne. But even among this mass of rocky,
sterile mountains lie fertile valleys, where the people
cultivate large quantities of corn, which they carry down
to the coast to exchange for cloth.
After passing Kizanji, forty miles from the sea, no
more human habitations are seen till Katombela is
reached. Nearly thirty miles of this part of the road
is through one continuous pass of bare granite rocks, with
only the occasional shelter of a boabab-tree, or a giant
euphorbia. To this pass succeeds a ban-en waste of
sand and gravel, separated from the sea by a low, flat
strip of land on the seaward side ; and here the towns
of Katombela and Benguella are situated. This strip
only needs irrigation to make it yield all tropical
productions, and, as water is obtained everywhere close
to the surface, large and productive gardens are easily
cultivated.
STANLEY'S LAST GREAT EXPEDITION
ACROSS THE DARK CONTINENT OF AFRICA.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Stanley thinks of Africa and Livingstone's unfinished work — Determines
to complete it — Takes a boat of his own along — At Zanzibar again
— Starts for the interior — Takes a new route — The country passed
through — Deserted by his guides — Loses the path — A painful march
— Starvation and death — A gloomy prospect — Two young lions killed
and made into broth — A trunk Used for a kettle — A painful spectac'e
—Men sent off for food at last return — Joy of the camp — The march
— A new type of natives — Naked beauty — Sickness and death —
Death of Edward Pocoke — His burial — Stanley's letter to his father
— A man murdered — Itwru reached — A populous plain — Intercourse
with the people — A magic doctor.
STANLEY, after he had found Livingstone, naturally
thought much of the latter's explorations. Africa
had become to him an absorbing subject, till he began
to imbibe the spirit of Livingstone. This was natural,
for he had won fame there, and why should he not win
still greater laurels in the same field ? This feeling was
much increased after the death of the great explorer,
with his work unfinished, and he longed to complete it.
True, Cameron was on the ground to accomplish this very
object, but Stanley knew the difficulties he would have
to contend with without a boat of his own. The matter
was talked over a good deal, and finally the proprietors
of the New York Herald and London Telegraph deter-
mined to send him out. The vast lake region, embrac-
ing some six degrees of longitude and extending from
the equator to fifteen degrees south latitude, had become
a region of the greatest interest to explorers. On this
vast water-shed lived a mighty population, and these
lakes, with the rivers running into and out of them, must
273
274 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
furnish the roads to commerce and be the means by which
Africa would be lifted out of its barbarism into the light
ot civilization.
The large lakes Nyassa and Tanganika had been more
or less explored, but the one possessing the greatest in-
terest— the Victoria N}>anza, on account of the general
impression that it was the head of the Nile — was almost
wholly unknown. The persistence with which the Nile
had mocked all the efforts to find its course, had imparted
a mystery to it and caused efforts to be made to unlock
the secret, apparently wholly disproportioned to its value
or real importance. This lake, therefore, was to be
Stanley's first objective point. Livingstone, Speke and
Burton, and others had seen it — he would sail round it
in a boat which he would take with him. This he had
made in sections, so that it could be carried the nearly
one thousand miles through the jungles of Africa to its
destination.
Everything being completed he started on his route,
and on the 21st of September, 1874, found himself once
more at Zanzibar. Here, in organizing his expedition,
he discovered that the builder had made his boat, which
he had christened the Lady Alice, a great deal heavier
than he had ordered ; but he luckily found a man in
Zanzibar who was able to reduce its weight so that it
could be transported by the carriers. It is not necessary
to go into a description of how he organized the new expe-
dition, nor of his journey along the old route to Unyan-
yembe. His force consisted in all of a little over three
hundred men, and he took with him this time several
powerful dogs. The interest of the expedition begins
when he struck off from the regular route of the cara-
vans going west, and entered an entirely new country
and encountered a new race of people. Instead of mov-
ing directly westward, he turned off to the north, and
at length reached the western frontier of Ugogo, on the
last day of the year 1874. The country at this point
stretched before him in one vast plain, which some of
the natives said extended clear to Nyanza. He found
DESERTED BY THE GUIDES.
275
that his course led him
which he was glad to
know, as he thought
his march would now
be unmolested. Two
days' march brought
them to the borders of
Usandawa, a country
abounding in elephants.
Here he turned to the
north-west and entered
Ukimbu or Uyonzi on
its eastern extremity.
The guides he had hir-
ed in Ugogo to take
him as far as Irarnba
heredeserted him. Hir-
ing fresh ones, he con-
tinued two days in the
same direction, when
the.se deserted him also,
and Stanley found him-
self one morning on the
edge of a vast wilder-
ness without a guide.
The day before, the
guides had told him
that three days' march
would bring him to
Urimi. Relying on the
truth of this statement,
he had purchased only
two days' provisions.
Thinking, therefore,
that they would be
there by the evening
of the next day, he
thought little of the
desertion and moved
A OKOUP OF ELEPHANTS.
276 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
off with confidence. But the next morning, the track,
which was narrow and indistinct at the best, became so
inextricably mixed up with the paths made by elephants
and rhinoceros, that they were wholly at loss what
course to take. Halting, Stanley sent out men to seek
the lost path, but they returned unable to find it. They
then, of course, had nothing left to do but to march by
compass, which they did.
As might be expected, it brought them, after a few
hours' march, into a dense jungle of acacias and euphor-
bias, through which they could make their way only by
crawling, scrambling and cutting the entangling vines.
Now pushing aside an obstructing branch — now cutting
a narrow lane through the matted mass, and now taking
advantage of a slight opening, this little band of three
hundred struggled painfully forward toward what they
thought was open country, and an African village writh
plenty of provisions.
In this protracted struggle the third night overtook
them in the wilderness, and there they pitched their
lonely, starving camp. To make it more gloomy, one of
the men died and was buried ; his shallow grave seeming
to be a sad foreboding of what awaited them in the
future. The want of provisions now began to tell terribly
on the men, but there was nothing to do but go forward,
trusting to some outbreak to this apparently intermin-
able wilderness. But human endurance has its limit,
and although Stanley kept his little force marching all
day, they made but fourteen miles. It was a continual
jungle, with not a drop of water on the route. The poor
carriers, hungry and thirsty, sunk under their loads and
lagged behind the main force for many miles, until it
became a straggling, weary, despondent crowd, moving
without order and without care through the wilderness.
The strong endeavored to help the weak, and did relieve
them of their burdens and encourage them to hold on,
so that most of them were able to reach the camp at
night. But in despite of all effort five sick, despairing
men, strayed from the path, which was only a blind
A FEARFUL DEATH-ROLL. 277
trail made by those in advance. After the camp for the
night was pitched, Stanley sent back scouts to find them,
who explored the woods for a mile each side of the track
they had made, but only one man was found, and he full
a mile. from the trail and dead. The other four had
wandered off beyond reach and were never heard of more.
This was getting to be fearful marching — five men in one
day was a death roll that could not be kept up long, and
Stanley began to cast about anxiously to determine
what step he should next take. But there was but one
course left open to him, to attempt to retrace his steps
was certain death by famine, to advance could not be
worse, while it might bring relief, so push on was the
order, and they did push on weary, thirsty, starving, and
on the fifth day came to a little village recently estab-
lished, and which consisted of only four huts, occupied
by four men with their wives and children. These had
scarcely provisions enough to keep themselves, and hence
could give nothing to Stanley's starving men. It was
useless to attempt further marching without food, for
the men staggered into camp exhausted, and would
rather die there than attempt to move again.
Stanley's experience had taught him how far he could
urge on these African carriers and soldiers, and he saw
they had now become desperate and would not budge
another inch until they had something to eat. He, there-
fore, ordered a halt, and selecting twenty of his strongest
men, sent them off in search of food. They were to press
on to a village called Suna, about thirty miles distant,
of which the natives told him, and where they said food
was in abundance. As soon as they had disappeared in
the forest, Stanley took his gun and strolled out in search
of game. But, filled as the country seemed with it,
he could find nothing to shoot. One of his men, how-
ever, came across a lion's den, in which were two cubs,
which he brought to Stanley. The latter skinned them
and took them back to camp. As he entered it, the
pinched and worn faces of his faithful men, as they sat
hungry and despairing, moved him so deeply that he
278 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
would have wept, but for fear of adding to their des-
pondency. The two cubs would go but a. little way to-
ward feeding some two hundred and twenty men, if
cooked as ordinary meat, so he resolved to make a soup
of them, which would go much farther. But the question
was where to get a kettle large enough to make a soup
for such a lai'ge body of men. Luckly, he bethought
himself of a sheet-iron trunk which he had among his
baggage, and which was water-tight. He quickly
dumped out of it its contents, and tilling it with water,
set it over a tire which he had ordered to be made. He
then broke open his medical stores, and taking out five
pounds of Scotch oatmeal and three one-pound tins of
revalenta Arabica, he made with it and the two young
lions a huge trunk full of gruel, that would give even
two hundred and twenty men a good bowl apiece. He
said it was a rare sight to see tluse hungry, famished
men gather around that Torquay dress-trunk and pile
on the fuel, and in every way assist to make the contents
boil, while with greedy eyes, with gourds in their hands,
full of water, they stood ready to pour it in the moment
it threatened to boil over and waste the precious con-
tents. But he adds, " it was a rarer sight still to watch
the famished wretches, as, with these same gourds full
of the precious broth, they drank it down as only star-
ving men swallow food. The weak and sick got a larger
portion, and another tin of oatmeal being opened for
their supper and breakfast, they waited patiently the
return of those who had gone in quest of food."
Stanley's position now became painfully trying. He
was five days' march from where he could obtain food,
if he attempted to go back, which, in the present con-
dition of his men, they could never make, and if any
survived, it would be on the terrible condition of the
living eating the dead.
The only hope lay in reaching supplies in advance.
But what if those twenty strong men he had sent on to
find them never returned, having been ambushed and
killed on the way, or what if they,, at the end of several
RETURN OF THE SCOUTS. 279
days, returned and reported nothing but an unbroken
wilderness and impassable jungle or swamps in front,
and themselves famished, ready to die ? These were
questions that Stanley anxiously put to himself and
dared not contemplate the answer. The hours of pain-
ful anxiety and suspense, the maddening thoughts and
wild possibilities that fire the brain and oppress the
heart in such crises as these cannot be imagined, they
can be known only by him who suffers the pangs they
inflict. This is a portion of the history of the expedition
that Stanley can never write, though it is written on
his heart in lines that will never be effaced.
The empty trunk lay on one side, and the night came
down and the stars burned bright and tranquilly above,
and all was silent in the wide solitude as Stanley sat
and listened for the return of his men. But they came
not, and the morning broke and the sun rode once more
the tropical heavens in his splendor, but no musket shot
from the forest told of the returning scouts. The weary
hours wore on and the emaciated men lay around in
silent suffering. To Stanley these hours seemed days.
Night again darkened the forest and still no sign of the
returning part}/. Would they ever return, was the
terrible question Stanley was perpetually putting to
kimself, and if not, what desperate movement should he
attempt ? The third morning broke as calm and peace-
ful as the rest ; he was beginning to despair, when, sud-
denly, a musket shot broke over the forest, and then
another and another, sending sudden life and activity
throughout the despairing camp. The men, as they
emerged into view laden with food, were greeted with
a loud shout, and the hungry wretches fell on the pro-
visions they brought like ravening wolves. The report
of abundance ahead so excited the men that they forgot
their feebleness and clamored to be led on that very
afternoon. Stanley was quite willing to get away from
the jungle, filled with such painful associations, and
cheerfully ordered the inarch, but before they could get
away two men breathed their last in the camp and were
left to sleep alone in the wilderness.
280 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
That night they encamped at the base of a rocky hill,
from which stretched away a broad plain. The hill —
lifting itself into the clear air — the open plain seemed
like civilization compared with the gloomy jungle in
which they had been starving for the last two days, and
where they had left two of their number, and they
awoke next morning cheerful and refreshed. Starting
off with the prospect of abundant provisions ahead, they
made a steady march of twenty miles and reached the
district of Suna in Urimi.
Stanley was surprised, on entering the rude village,
to see a new type of African life. Men and women of
great beauty and fine physical proportions met his
astonished sight. They stood before him in all their
naked beauty, unabashed ; the women bearing children
alone wearing a covering of goat skins, designed evi-
dently as a protection against external injury, and not
caused by any notions of modesty. Their fine appear-
ance seemed to indicate a greater mental development
than any other tribes which they had met. Whether
this were so or not, it would be difficult to tell, for they
were the most suspicious, reserved people Stanley had
ever met, being greatly disinclined to barter provisions,
of which they had more than they wanted, for cloth
and beads, of which they apparently had none. They
had no chief, but seemed to be governed in their actions
by the old men. With these Stanley therefore treated
for permission to pass through their land. It required
great tact to secure this, and still more to obtain the
required food. Stanley bore this silent hostility
patiently, for though he could have taken all he wanted
by force, he wished to avoid all violence. While linger-
ing here, two more of his exhausted company gave out
and died, while his sick list swelled up to thirty.
Among the latter was Edward Pocoke, who, with his
brother, Stanley had engaged in England to accompany
him as attendants. This compelled him to halt for four
days, but finding that the hostile feeling of the natives
increased the longer he stayed, he determined, danger-
DEATH OF POCOKE. 281
ous as it was to the sick, especially to Pocoke, to leave.
Dysentery and diarrhoea was prevailing to an alarming
extent, and rest was especially necessary for these, if
they hoped to recover ; but he was afraid matters would
become dangerously complicated if he remained, and he
turned his soldiers into carriers and slung the sick into
hammocks. Encouraging them with the prospect of
plenty and comfort ahead, he gave the order to march,
and they passed out and entered upon a clear, open, and
well-cultivated country. Reaching a village at ten
o'clock they halted, and here young Pocoke breathed his
last " to the great grief of all." In speaking of the sad
event that cast a gloom over the camp, Stanley says:
" We had finished the four hundredth mile of our march
from the sea and had reached the base of the water-shed,
where the trickling streams and infant waters began to
flow Nile ward, when this noble young man died." They
buried him at night under a tree, with the stars shining
down on the shallow-made grave — Stanley reading the
burial service of the Church of England over the body.
Far from home and friends in that distant lonely land
he sleeps to-day, a simple wooden cross marking his
burial place. Stanley sent the following letter home to
his father, describing his sickness and death :
KAGEHYI, ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA,
March 4th, 1875.
DEAR SIR, — A most unpleasant, because sad, task de-
volves upon me, for I have the misfortune to have to
report to you the death of your son Edward, of typhoid
fever. His service with me was brief, but it was long
enough for me to know the greatness of your loss, for I
doubt that few fathers can boast of such sons as yours.
Both Frank and Ted proved themselves sterling men,
noble and brave hearts, and faithful servants. Ted had
endeared himself to -the members of the expedition by
his amiable nature, his cheerfulness, and by various
qualifications which brought him into high favor with
the native soldiers of this force. Before daybreak we
282 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
were accustomed to hear the cheery notes of his bugle,
which woke us to a fresh day's labor; at night, around
the camp-fires, we were charmed with his sweet, simple
songs, of which he had an inexhaustible repertoire.
When tired also with marching, it was his task to an-
nounce to the tired people the arrival of the vanguard
at camp, so that he had become quite a treasure to us
all; and I must say, I have never known men who
could bear what your sons have borne on this expedi-
tion so patiently and uncomplainingly. I never heard
one grumble either from Frank or Ted; have never
heard them utter an illiberal remark, or express any
wish that the expedition had never set foot in Africa,
as many men would have done in their situation, so
that you may well imagine, that if the loss of one of
your sons causes grief to your parental heart, it has been
no less a griet to us, as we were all, as it were, one
family, surrounded as we are by so much that is dark
and forbidding.
On arriving at Suna, in Urina, Ted came to me, after
a very long march, complaining of pain in his limbs and
loins. I did not think it was serious at all, nor any-
thing uncommon after walking twenty miles, but told
him t) go and lie down, that he would be better on the
morrow, as it was very likely fatigue. The next morn-
ing I visited him, and he again complained of pains in
the knees and back, at which I ascribed it to rheuma-
tism, and treated him accordingly. The third day he
complained of pain in the chest, difficulty of breathing
and sleeplessness, from which I perceived he was suffer-
ing from some other malady than rheumatism, but what
it could be I could not divine. He was a little feverish,
so I gave him a mustard-plaster and some aperient
medicine. Toward night he began to wander in his
head, and on examining his tongue I found it was
almost black and coated with dark-gray fur. At these
symptoms I thought he had a severe attack of remittent
fever, from which I suffered in Ujiji, in 1871, and there-
fore I watched for an opportunity to administer quinine
POCOKE'S LETTER. 283
— that is, when the fever should abate a little. But, on
the fourth day, the patient still wandering in his mind,
I suggested to Frank that he should sponge him with
cold water and change his clothing, during which opera-
tion I noticed that the chest of the patieut was covered
with spots like pimples or small-pox pustules, which
perplexed me greatly. He could not have caught the
small-pox, and what the disease was I could not im-
agine; but, turning to my medical books, I saw that
your son was suffering from typhoid, the description of
which was too clear to be longer mistaken, and both
Frank and I devoted our attention to him. He was
nourished with arrow-root and brandy, and everything
that was in our power to do was done ; but it was very
evident that the case was serious, though I hoped that
his constitution would brave it out.
On the fifth day we were compelled to resume our
journey, after a rest of four days. Ted was put in a
hammock and carried on the shoulders of four men. At
ten o'clock on the 17th of January we halted at Chiwyn,
and the minute that he was laid down in the camp he
breathed his last. Our companion was dead.
We buried him that night under a tree, on which his
brother Frank had cut a deep cross, and read the
beautiful service of the Church of England over him as
we laid the poor worn-out body in its final resting-
place.
Peace be to his ashes. Poor Ted deserved a better
fate than dying in Africa, but it was impossible that he
could have died easier. I wish that my end may be as
peaceful and painless as his. He was spared the stormy
scenes we went through afterwards in our war with the
Waturn ; and who knows how much he has been saved
from ? But I know that he would have rejoiced to be
with us at this hour of our triumph, gazing on the
laughing waters of the vast fountain of old Nilft. None
of us would have been more elated at the prospect before
us than he, for he was a true sailor, and loved the sight
of water. Yet again I say peace be to his ashes; be
284 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
consoled, for Frank still lives, and, from present appear-
ances, is likely to come home to you with honor and
glory, such as he and you may well be proud of. Be-
lieve me, dear sir, with true sincerity, your well-wisher,
HENRY M. STANLEY.
Stanley still travelled in a north-west direction, and
the farther he advanced the more he was convinced that
the rivulets he encountered flowed into the Nile, and he
became elated with the hope that he should soon stand
on the shores of the great lake that served as the reser-
voir of the mighty river.
Two days' march now brought them to Mongafa,
where one of his men who had accompanied him on his
former expedition was murdered. He was suffering
from the asthma, and Stanley permitted him to follow
the party slowly. Straggling thus behind alone, he was
waylaid by the natives and murdered. It was im-
possible to ascertain who committed the deed, and so
Stanley could not avenge the crime.
Keeping on they at length entered Itwru, a district of
Northern Urimi. The village where they camped was
called Vinyata, and was situated in a broad and popu-
lous valley, containing some two thousand to three
thousand souls, through which flowed a stream twenty
feet wide. The people here received him in a surly man-
ner, but Stanley was very anxious to avoid trouble and
used every exertion to conciliate them. He seemed at
last to succeed, for at evening they brought him milk,
eggs, and chickens, taking cloth in exchange. This
reached the ears of the great man of the valley, a magic
doctor, who, there being no king over the people, is treated
with the highest respect and honor by them. The next
day he brought Stanley a fat ox, for which the latter
paid him twice what it was worth in cloth and beads,
besides making a rich present to his brother and son.
To all his requests he cheerfully consented in his anxiety
to conciliate him and the natives.
That day, taking advantage of the bright sun to dry
THE CAMP. 285
the bales and goods, he exposed his rich stores, an im-
prudence which he very quickly deeply regretted, for he
saw that the display awoke all the greedy feelings of
the natives, as was evinced by their eager looks. But
the day passed quietly, and on the third morning the
great man made his appearence again and begged for
more beads, which were given him and he departed ap-
parently very much pleased, and Stanley congratulated
himself that he would be allowed to depart in peace.
CHAPTER XXIV.
The camp — View from it — Hostile demonstrations — A three days' fight
— A massacre— A modern Sodom — A terrible vengeance — Twenty-
one of the expedition killed — A complete ruin— Provisions ob-
tained—The march resumed— Only a hundred and ninety-four men
left out of three hundred with which he started — A gloomy outlook
—Mistaken for Mirambo— The Nyanza reached at last— A descrip-
tion of the country he had passed through.
OR a half an hour after the magic doctor left, Stanley
sat quietly in his camp, his anxieties now thor-
oughly dissipated, thinking over his speedy departure
for the Nyanza. The camp was situated on the margin
of a vast wilderness, which stretched he knew not how
far westward, while away to the north, south and east
extended a wide open plain, dotted over, as far as the
eye could see, with villages. There were nearly two
hundred of them, looking in the distance like clusters of
beehives. Everything was peaceful, and not a sound
disturbed the Sabbath-like stillness of the scene, when
there suddenly broke on his ears the shrill war-cry,
which was taken up by village after village till the whole
valley resounded with it. It was one loud " he-hu,
he-hu," the last syllable prolonged and uttered in a high,
piercing note that made the blood shiver. Still Stanley
felt no alarm, supposing that some war expedition was
about to be set on foot, or some enemy was reported to
286 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
be near, and listened to the barbaric cry simply with
curiosity. The men in the camp kept about their usual
avocations — some fetching water from a neighboring
pool, while others were starting off after wood — when
suddenly a hundred warriors appeared close to camp in
full war costume. Feathers of the eagle and other birds
waved above their heads; " the mane of the zebra and
giraffe emcircled their foreheads, their left hand held the
bow and arrows, while the right held the spear." Stan-
ley arose, and telling the men not to leave camp nor do
anything to provoke a hostile act, waited to see what
this sudden warlike attitude meant.
In the meantime the throng increased till the entire
camp was surrounded. A slight bush fence had been
built around it, which, although it concealed those with-
in, was too slight to be of use in case of an attack. See-
ing that this hostile demonstration was against him,
Stanley sent out a young man who spoke their lan-
guage, to inquire what they wanted. Six or seven
warriors advanced to meet him, when a lively conversa-
tion followed. The messenger soon returned and re-
ported that they accused one of the party of having
stolen some milk and butter from a small village, and
they must be paid for it in cloth. He at once sent the
messenger back, directing him to tell the warriors that
he did not come into their country to rob or steal, and
if anything had been taken from them they had but to
name the price they asked for it and it should be paid
at once. The messenger brought back word that they
demanded four yards of sheeting; although this was
worth four times as much as the articles were which
they alleged had been stolen, he was very glad to settle
the matter so easily, and it was measured and sent to
them. The elders declared that they were perfectly
satisfied, and they all withdrew. But Stanley could
not at once shake off the suspicion this unexpected >ln>\v
of hostile feeling had excited, and he watched narrowly
the villages in the distance. He soon saw that the
warriors were not pacified if the elders were, for he
THE ATTACK. 287
could see them hurrying together from all parts of the
plain and gesticulating wildly.
Still he hoped that the elders would keep them from
any overt act of hostility. While he was watching them
he saw about two hundred separate themselves from the
main body, and taking a sweep, make for the woods
west of the camp. They had hardly entered them when
one of his men rushed out of them into camp bleeding
profusely from his face and arms. He said that Sulei-
man (a youth) and he were gathering wood when the
savages came suddenly upon them. He was struck with
a stick that broke his nose, and his arm was pierced
with a spear, while Suleiman fell pierced with a dozen
spears. His story and bloody appearance so excited the
soldiers that Stanley could with difficulty restrain them
from rushing, out at once and attacking the murderers.
He did not yet despair of preventing an outbreak, but
took care to open the ammunition and be prepared for
the worst. He saw at once that an immensely large
force could be brought against him, and he must fortify
himself or he would be overwhelmed by numbers, and so
ordered the men immediately to commence strengthen-
ing the fence. They had not been long employed at it
when the savages made a dash at the camp, and sent a
shower of arrows into it. Stanley immediately ordered
sixty soldiers to deploy fifty yards in front. At the
word of command they rushed out, and the battle com-
menced. The enemy soon turned in flight and the
soldiers pursued them. Every man was now ordered to
work on the defences ; some cut down thorn-trees and
threw together rapidly a high fence all round the camp,
while others were ordered to build platforms within for
the sharp-shooters. All this time Stanley could hear
the fire of the soldiers growing more and more indis-
tinct in the distance. When the fence was completed
he directed the sections of the Lady Alice to be placed
so as to form a sort of central camp, to which they could
retire in the last extremity. As soon as everything was
finished he ordered the bugle to sound the retreat, and
19
288
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
soon the skirmishers came in sight. They reported
fifteen of the enemy killed. All had fought bravely,
even a bull dog had seized a savage and was tearing
him to pieces, when a bullet put him out of his misery.
They were not molested again that day, which gave
them time to make their position still stronger. The
night passed quietly, and they were allowed to break-
fast in peace. But about nine o'clock the savages in
great numbers advanced upon the camp. All hopes of
peace were now at an end, and since he was forced to
fight, Stanley determined to inflict no half-way punish-
ment, but sweep that fair valley with the besom of des-
truction. He therefore selected four reliable men, placed
them at the head of four detachments, attaching to each
one a fleet runner, whose duty was not to fight, but to re-
port to him any disaster that threatened or befell the de-
tachment to which he belonged, and ordered them to
move out and attack the savages. As the route of the
enemy was certain, he directed them to pursue them
separately, yet keep before them as the place of final
rendezvous, some high rocks five miles distant down the
valley. The detachments poured forth from the camp,
and the deadly fire-arms so appalled those savage war-
riors, armed only with the bow and spear, that they at
once turned and fled. The detachments followed in hot
pursuit, and what promised to be a fight, became a reg-
ular stampede. But one detachment having pursued a
large force of the enemy into the open plain, the latter
turned at bay.
The leader of the detachment, excited by the pursuit,
and believing, in his contempt for the savages, that the
mere sight of his little band would send them scurrying
away in deadly fear, charged boldly on them. Quick as
thought they closed around him in overwhelming num-
bers. The runner alone escaped and bore the sad tid-
ings to Stanley. The appointment of these runners
shows his wonderful prevision — -that foresight which on
many occasions alone saved him. He at once sent as-
sistance to the detachment that the courier had reported
A SECOND SODOM. 289
surrounded. Alas, before it arrived every man had been
massacred. The aid, though it came too late to save the
brave detachment, arrived just in time to save the second,
which was just falling into the same snare, for the large
force that had annihilated the first had now turned on
this, and its fate seemed sealed. The reinforcements
hurried off by Stanley found it completely hemmed in by
the savages. Two soldiers had already been killed, the
captain was wounded, and in a few minutes more they
would have shared the fate of the first detachment. It
was at this critical moment they arrived, and suddenly
pouring a deadly volley into the rear of the assailants,
sent them to the right about with astonishing quickness.
The two detachments now wheeled and poured a con-
centrated volley into the savages, which sent them flying
wildly over the plain. A swift pursuit was commenced,
but the fleet enemy could not be overtaken, and the
march up the valley was scarcely resisted. Stanley, in
camp, carefully watched the progress of the fight, which
could be distinguished at first by the volleys of his
soldiers, and when, receding in the distance, these could
be no longer heard, by tne puffs of smoke which showed
where the pursuit led. But at length smoke of a diff-
erent character began to ascend from the quiet valley.
To the right and left the dark columns obscured the noon-
day sun, and far as the eye could reach the plain, with
its hundreds of villages of thatched huts, presented one
wide conflagration, till the murky mass of cloudy vapor,
as it rolled heavenward, made it appear like a second
Sodom, suffering the vengeance of heaven. To the dis-
tance of eight miles Stanley could see the jets of smoke
that told of burning villages. He had delayed to the
last moment hostile action, but having once commenced
it he meant to leave behind him no power of retaliation.
It was a victorious but sad day, and the return of the
detachments was anything but a triumphal march, for
they bore back twenty-one dead men, besides the woun-
ded, while they could report but thirty-five of the enemy
killed. So little difference in th.3 number of the slain,
290 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
when one was the pursued and the other the pursuing
party, and when the former was armed only with spears
and bows, and the latter with the deadly rifle, seems at
first sight unaccountable, but it must be remembered that
the unfortunate detachment that was surrounded and
massacred to a man, furnished almost the entire list of
the killed.
The camp was at peace that night, but it was a sad
peace. A few more such victories as this and Stanley
would be left without an expedition.
This unfortunate experience with these people showed
the danger of his taking a new route. His object was
not to travel among new people but to reach the
lake region with his boat and settle great geographical
problems and establish certain facts having an intimate
bearing on the future of Africa. Yet by his course he
obtained really no new and valuable information, but
imperiled and wellnigh ruined the expedition fitted out
with so much expense and care.
It was the nearest course to the lake, yet the long one
by which Speke reached it was the safest. He had been
in a perilous position, and it was clearly his own fore-
sight that saved him. The appointment of a courier or
swift runner to each detachment to act as a telegraph,
would probably have occurred to few, yet this saved one
detachment from destruction and how much more no
one can tell.
But he was not satisfied with the vengeance he had
taken and the devastation he had wrought. He had re-
solved to teach those savage negroes a lesson on the
danger of treachery to strangers, and he meant, now he
had commenced it, to make it thorough and complete,
and so next morning he sent off sixty men to proceed to
the farthest end of the valley, some eight miles away,
and destroy what yet remained ; passing on through the
ruins of the villages, they came to a large village in the
extreme north-east. A very slight resistance was made
here, and they entered it and applied the torch, and soon
it shared the fate of all the rest. Before they destroyed
STANLEY'S CONTEOLLING FAITH. 291
it, however, they loaded themselves with grain. Pro-
visions were now plenty, for the frightened negroes had
left everything behind them in their flight. There was
no longer any need of purchasing food, the valley was
depopulated, and all the accumulated provisions of the
inhabitants at the mercy of the victors. Finding he had
enough to last the expedition six days, Stanley next
morning started westward before day-break, and was
soon far away from this valley of destruction, leaving
the thoroughly humbled natives to crawl back to the
ashes of their ruined homes. Without further trouble,
in three days, he reached Iramba. Here he halted and
took a calm survey of his condition and prospects. He
found that out of three hundred men with which he had
left the coast but one hundred and ninety-four remained.
Sickness, desertion and battle had reduced his number
over a third before he had reached the poirt where his
actual labors were to commence. It was not a pleasant
look-out ; for, although two hundred men, well armed
with rifles, made a formidable force in a country where
only arrows and spears were used, still this heavy ratio
of loss must stop or the expedition stop. He was not in
a country where he could recruit soldiers, and each one
lost was a dead loss, and thousands of miles of explor-
ation lay before him, in prosecuting which he knew
not how many battles would be fought, nor how much
sickness have to be encountered. It would not seem a
difficult piece of arithmetical calculation to determine
how long three hundred men would last if one-third dis-
appeared in three months, or how many men it would
require to prosecute his labors three years. But Stan-
ley never seemed to act as though he ^thought defeat
possible. Whether his faith was in God, himself or his
star, it was nevertheless a strong and controlling
faith. Still, now and then it leaks out that he was per-
fectly conscious of the desperate nature of his condition,
and felt that disease, which carried off his friends and
retainers, or the spear, might end, at any moment, his
explorations and his life.
292 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Though out of Urimi at last, he found the natives of
Iramba a very little improvement on those of the former
district. Mirambo was their terror, and hence they were
suspicious of all strangers. Again and again he was
mistaken for this terrible chieftain, and narrowly escaped
being attacked. In fact, this formidable warrior was
fighting at one time within a day's march of him.
Urukuma was the next district he entered after Iram-
ba, and he found it thickly peopled and rich in cattle.
It consisted for the most part of rolling plains, with
scattered chains of jagged hills. He was on the slope
that led to the Nyanza, and the descent was so gradual,
that he expected to find the lake, whose exploration he
designed to make thorough and complete, comparatively
shallow, although it covered a vast area. At last he
reached a little village, not a hundred yards from the
shore, and encamped. At this point he describes the
topography of the new country he had passed over.
He says :
" As far as Western Ugogo I may pass over without
attempting to describe the country, as readers may ob-
tain a detailed account of it from ' How I Found Living-
stone.' Thence north is a new country to all, and a
brief description of it may be interesting to students of
African geography.
" North of Mizanza a level plain extends as fer as the
frontier of Urandawi, a distance of thirty-five miles (Eng-
lish). At Mukondoku the altitude, as indicated by two
first-rate aneroids, was two thousand eight hundred feet.
At Mtiwi, twenty miles north, the altitude was two
thousand eight hundred and twenty -five feet. Diverging
west and north-west, we ascend the slope of a lengthy
mountain wall, apparently, but which, upon arriving at
the summit, we ascertain to be a wide plateau, covered
with forests. This plateau has an altitude of three
thousand eight hundred feet at its eastern extremity ;
but, as it extends westward it rises to a height of four
thousand five hundred feet. It embraces all Uyanzi,
Unyanyembe, Usukuma, Urimi and Iramba — in short,
GEOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION. 293
all that part of Central Africa lying Between the valley
of the Rufiji south and the Victoria Nyanza north, and
the mean altitude of this broad upland cannot exceed
four thousand five hundred feet. From Mizanza to the
Nyanza is a distance of nearly three hundred geograph-
ical miles ; yet, at no part of this long journey did the
aneroids indicate a higher altitude than five thousand
one hundred feet above the sea.
" As far as Urimi, from the eastern edge of the plateau,
the land is covered with a dense jungle of acacias, which,
by its density, strangles all other species of vegetation,
Here and there, only in the cleft of a rock, a giant
euphorbia may be seen, sole lord of its sterile domain.
The soil is shallow, and consists of vegetable mould,
mixed largely with sand and detritus of the bare rocks,
which crown each knoll and ridge, and which testify too
plainly to the violence of the periodical rains.
" In the basin of Matongo, in Southern Urimi, we
were instructed by the ruins and ridges, relics of a
loftier upland, of what has been effected by nature in
the course of long ages. No learned geological savant
need ever expound to the traveler who views these
rocky ruins, the geological history of this country.
From a distance we viewed the glistening naked and
riven rocks as a singular scene; but when we stood
among them, and noted the appearance of the rocky
fragments of granite, gneiss and porphyry peeled as it
were rind after rind, or leaf after leaf, like an artichoke,
until the rock was wasted away, it seemed as if Dame
Nature has left these relics, these hilly skeletons, to
demonstrate her laws and career. It seemed to me as if
she said, ' Lo, and behold this broad basin of Matongo,
with its teeming villages and herds of cattle and fields
of corn, surrounded by these bare rocks — in primeval
time this land was covered with water, it was the bed
of a vast sea. The waters were dried, leaving a wide
expanse of level land, upon which I caused heavy rains
to fall five months out of each year during all the ages
that have elapsed since first the hot sunshine fell upon
294 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the soil. The rains washed away the loose sand and
made deep furrows in course of time, until in certain
places the rocky kernel under the soil began to appear.
The furrows became enlarged, the waters frittered away
their banks and conveyed the earth away to lower levels,
through which it wore away a channel, first through the
soil and lastly through the rock itself, which you may
see if you but walk to the bottom of that basin. You
will there behold a channel worn through the solid rock
some fifty feet in depth ; and as you look on that you
will have some idea of the power and force of the
tropical rains. It is through that channel that the soil
robbed from these rocks has been carried away toward
the Nyanza to fill its depths and in time make dry land
of it. Now you may ask how came these once solid
rocks, which are now but skeletons of hills and stony
heaps, to be thus split into so many fragments ? Have
you never seen the effect of water thrown upon lime ?
The solid rocks have been broken or peeled in an almost
similar manner. The tropic sun heated the face of these
rocks to an intense heat, and the cold rain falling upon
the heated surface caused them to split and peel as you
see them.'
" This is really the geological history of this region
simply told. Ridge after ridge, basin after basin, from
Western Ugogo to the Nyanza, tells the same tale ; but
it is not until we enter Central Urimi, that we begin to
marvel at the violence of the process by which nature
has transformed the face of the land. For here the per-
ennial springs and rivulets begin to unite and form
rivers, after collecting and absorbing the moisture from
the water-shed; and these rivers, though but gentle
streams during the dry season, become formidable dur-
ing the rains. It is in central Urimi that the Nile first
begins to levy tribute upon Equatorial Africa, and if
you look upon the map and draw a line east from the
latitude of Ujiji to longitude thirty-five degrees you
will strike upon the sources of the Leewumbu, which is
the extreme southern feeder of the Victoria Nyanza.
THE SHIMEEYU EIVER. 295
"In Iramba, between Mgongo Tembo and Mombiti,
we came upon what must have been in former times an
arm of the Victoria Nyanza. It is called the Lurnani-
berri Plain, after a river of that name, and is about forty
miles in width. Its altitude is three thousand seven
hundred and seventy-five feet above the sea, and but a
few feet above Victoria Nyanza. We were fortunate in
crossing the broad, shallow stream in the dry season, for
during the masika or rainy season the plain is converted
into a wide lake.
" The Leewumbu River, after a course of a hundred
and seventy-five miles, becomes known as the Monaugh
Kiver, in Usukuma. After another run of a hundred
miles, it is converted into Shimeeyu, under which name
it enters the Victoria east of this port of Kagehyi.
Roughly the Shimeeyu may be said to have a length of
three hundred and fifty miles."
CHAPTER XXV.
EXPLORING THE VICTOEIA NYANZA.
Mustering his Force — The Death-roll — Selecting a Crew of Eleven Men,
he sets sail — Leaves the Camp in charge of Pocoke and Barker —
" Speke's Bay" — Coasting Northward — Shimeeyu Biver — A Large
Island — Description of the Shores and People — Strange Stories told
him — A Lonely Channel — Superstition of the Natives — "Bridge
Island " — Under the Equator — Stanley looked upon as a being from
another World — Fleeing from Hippopotami — Treachery — A Narrow
Escape — Three-quarters of the Lake thoroughly Explored.
STANLEY felt, as he stood and looked off on the
broad expanse of water, like one who had achieved
a great victory, and said that the wealth of the universe
could not then bribe him to turn back from his work.
The boat of a white man had never been launched on
its surface, and he longed to see the Lady Alice afloat,
that he might change the guesses of Livingstone, Speke,
and others, into certainty. He had started to complete
296 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Livingstone's unfinished work, and now he was in a fair
way to do it. How much Cameron, who was some-
where in the interior on the same mission, had accom-
plished, he did not know, he only knew that with no
boat at his command, like the Lady Alice, that he had
transported through so many hundreds of miles of
African jungle, his movements would be very much
crippled.
He now mustered his entire force, to see what he had
to rely on before setting out, and found it to consist of
three white men and one hundred and six Wanguana
soldiers, twenty-eight having died since leaving Itwru
thirty days before, or at an average of nearly one a day.
This was a gloomy prospect. Before beginning his real
work one-half of his entire expedition had disappeared.
Dysentery had been the great scourge that had thinned
their ranks so fearfully. Stanley in the first place was
not a physician, while even those remedies which ordi-
narily might have proved efficacious were rendered well-
nigh useless by the necessity of constant mai-ching.
Rest alone would have cured a great many, but he felt
compelled to march. Whether the necessity for march-
ing with the rapidity he did was sufficiently urgent to
justify him in sacrificing so many lives, he doubtless is
the best judge. These poor men were not accustomed
to travel at the rate he kept them moving. Had they
marched as leisurety as an Arab caravan, they would
have been nine months or a year in making the distance
which Stanley had accomplished in one hundred and
three days. He was at last on the lake that Baker
hoped to reach with his steam vessels, and here he ex-
pected to meet Gordon, his successor, but he evidently
had not yet arrived, for the natives told him that no
boats had been seen on the water. They related strange
tales, however, of the people inhabiting the shores. One
told him of a race of dwarfs, another of a tribe of giants,
and another still of a people who kept a breed of dogs
so large that even Stanley's mastiffs were small in com-
parison. How much or little of this was true, he, of
NAMING SPEKE GULF. 297
course, could not tell, still it excited his curiosity, and
increased his desire to explore the country.
He reached the lake on the 28th of February, and in
eight days had everything ready, and launched his boat.
He selected ten good oarsmen, who, with the steersman
and himself, composed the boat's crew, and the whole
force with which he was to overcome all the difficulties
that he might encounter.
The camp was left in charge of Frank Pocoke and
young Barker. Naming the large body of water, into
which the Shimeeyu and Ruana Rivers flowed, Speke
Gulf, in honor of the distinguished explorer, he sailed
along the irregular coast. To-day passing a district
thinly populated, to-morrow a rugged hill country,
through which the elephants wandered in immense
droves, and of course, thronged with elephant hunters,
he passed various tribes, until he came to the mouth of
the Ruano River, discharging a large volume of water in-
to Speke Gulf, but nothing in comparison with the
Shimeeyu and the Kagera, the two great river supplies
of the lake. The former is the largest of all, and at its
mouth a mile wide. Its length is three hundred and
seventy miles and is, he says, the extreme southern source
of the Nile, thus settling a vexed question. The Gulf he
named Speke Bay is on the north-eastern side, and where
he crossed it about twelve miles wide. Sterile plains
succeeded barren mountains, thin lines of vegetation
along the borders of the lake alone giving space for culti-
vation, came and went until they reached the great is-
land of Ukerewe, divided from the main-land by a nar-
row channel. This was a true oasis, for it was covered
with herds of cattle, and verdure, and fruits, and rich in
ivory. He found the king an amiable man, and his sub-
jects a peaceful, commercial people. Although this was
a large island, more than forty miles long, the king owned
several of the neighboring islands. Nothing of import-
ance]occurred on this voyage, as day after day they wound
in and out along the deeply corrugated coast or sailed
by islands, the people on shore all being friendly. They
298 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
at length came in sight of the high table-land of Majita,
which Speke thought to be an island, but which Stanley
demonstrated, by actual survey, to be only a promontory.
It rises some three thousand feet above the level of the
lake, and is surrounded by low brown plains, which, to
the distant observer, resembles water.
Stanley continued his course along the eastern shore
of the lake, proceeding northerly, and at last reached
the coast of the Uriri country, a district of pastoral land
dotted over with fine cattle. Bordering on this is
TJgegeya, a land of fables and wonders, the "El Dorado"
of slave hunters and traders in ivory, or it is the natural
home of the elephant, which is found here in great num-
bers. He first got sight of it in crossing a broad bay,
rising in a series of tall mountains before him. From
their base the country rolls away to the east in one vast
plain twenty-five miles wide, over which roam great
herds of cattle, getting their own living, and furnishing
plenty of meat to the indolent inhabitants. Stanley
constantly inquired of the natives concerning the country
inland, its character and people, and was told many
wonderful stories,, in which it was impossible to say how
much fable was mixed. Among other things, they re-
ported that about fifteen days' march from this place,
were mountains that spouted forth smoke.
Keeping north, he says : " We passed between the
Island Ugingo and the gigantic mountains of Ugegeya,
at whose base the Lady Alice seems to crawl like a mite
in a huge cheese, while we on board admire the stu-
pendous height, and wonder at the deathly silence which
prevails in this solitude, where the boisterous winds are
hushed and the turbulent waves are as tranquil as a
summer dream. The natives, as they pass, regard this
spot with superstition, as well they might, for the silent
majesty of these dumb, tall mounts awe the very storms
to peace. Let the tempests bluster as they may on the
spacious main beyond the cape, in this nook, sheltered
by tall Ugingo isle and lofty Goshi in the mainland, they
inspire no fear. It is this refuge which Goshi promises
PRAISES TO GOSHI. 299
•
the distressed canoemeii that causes them to sing praises
of Goshi, and to cheer one another when wearied and
benighted that Goshi is near to protect them."
Sailing in and out among the clustering islands, they
see two low isolated islands in the distance, and make
toward them to camp there for the night. "There,"
says Stanley, " Under the overspreading branches of a
mangrove tree we dream of unquiet waters, and angry
surfs, and threatening rocks, to find ourselves next
morning tied to an island, which, from its peculiarity, I
called Bridge Island, While seeking a road to ascend
the island, to take bearings, I discovered a natural bridge
of basalt, about twenty feet in length and twelve in
breadth, under which one might repose comfortably, and
from one side see the waves lashed to fury and spend
their strength on the stubborn rocks, which form the
foundation of the arch, while from the other we could
see the boat, secure under the lee of the island, resting
on a serene and placid surface and shaded by mangrove
branches from the hot sun of the equator. Its neighbor-
hood is remarkable only for a small cave, the haunt of
fishermen." After taking a survey of the neighboring
mainland, he hoisted sail and scudded, along the coast
before a freshening breeze. At noon he found himself,
by observation, to be under the equator. Seeing an
opening in the lake that looked like the mouth of a
river, he sailed into it to find it was only a deep bay.
Coming in sight of a village, he anchored near it and
tried to make friends with some wild-looking fishermen
on the shore, but the naked savages only " stared at
them from under pent-houses of hair, and hastily stole
away to tell their families of the strange apparition they
had seen."
This sail of one hundred miles along the coast of this
vast lake, though somewhat monotonous and tame in its
details to the reader, furnished one of the most interest-
ing episodes in Stanley's life — not because the scenery
was new and beautiful, but because he, with his white
sail, and fire-arms, and strange dress, was as strange and
300 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
•
wonderful to these natives as was Columbus, with his
ship, and cannon, and cavaliers to the inhabitants of the
New World. Though often differing in appearance, and
language, and manner, they were almost uniformly
friendly, and in the few cases where they proved hostile,
they were drunk, which makes civilized men, as well as
savages quarrelsome. It was frequently very difficult to
win their confidence, and often Stanley would spend hours
in endeavoring to remove their suspicions. In this wild,
remote home, their lives pass on without change, each gen-
enration treading in the footsteps of the preceding one —
no progress, no looking forward to increased knowledge
or new developments. There were no new discoveries to
arouse their mental faculties, no aspirations for a better
condition, and they were as changeless as their tropical
climate. Hence, to them the sudden appearance of this
strange phenomenon on their beautiful lake could not
be accounted for. It had seemingly dropped from the
clouds, and at the first discharge of a pistol they were
startled and filled with amazement.
Stanley, whether rowing or sailing, kept close to the
shore, that nothing worthy of note should escape him,
frequently landing to ascertain the name of the district
he was in, the bays he crossed, the mountains he saw,
and the rivers that emptied into the lake. In short, he
omitted nothing which was necessary to a complete
survey and knowledge of this hitherto unknown body of
water.
After leaving this bay, they came in a short time to a
river which was full of hippopotami. Two huge fellows
swam so near the boat that Stanley was afraid they
would attack it, and ordered the men to pull away from
them. Although hunting these huge beasts might be
very exciting sport, and a tolerably safe one in boats
properly built, to expose the Lady Alice, with her slender
cedar sides, to their tusks would have been a piece of folly
akin to madness. Her safety was of more consequence
than all the hippopotami in Africa. He was an explorer,
not a hunter ; and to risk all the future of the former
A FOREST OF SPEARS. 301
to gratify the pleasure of the latter would have shown
him unfit to command so important an expedition as
this. Like the boat that carried Caesar and his fortunes,
the Lady Alice bore in her frail sides destinies greater
than the imagination can conceive. So hoisting sail
they caught the freshening breeze and flew along the
ever-changing shore lined with villages, out of which
swarmed a vast crowd of people, showing a much more
densely populated district than they had yet seen. He
found the name of it to be Mahita; and wishing to learn the
names of some of the villages he saw, the boat was turned
to ward shore and anchored within fifty yards of it, but with
a cable long enough to let them drift to within a few feet of
it. Some half a dozen men wearing small shells above
their elbows and a circle around their heads came down to
the beach, opening a conversation with them. Stanley
learned the name of the country, but they refused to
tell him anything more till he landed. While getting
ready to do so, he noticed the numbers on the shore in-
creased with astonishing rapidity, and seemed to be
greatly excited. This aroused his suspicions, and he
ordered the rowers to pull off again. It was lucky he
did, for he had scarcely put three lengths between him
and the shore, when suddenly out of the bushes on each
side of the spot where he was to land arose a forest of
spears.
Stanley did not intend to go away entirely, but lie off
till they became less excited, but this evidence of
treachery caused him to change his mind, and he ordered
the sail to be hoisted, and moved away toward a point
at the mouth of the cove, which, with the wind as it
was blowing, they could but little more than clear. The
negroes seeing this, sent up a loud shout, and hurried off
to reach it before the boat did. Stanley penetrating
their design, ordered the sail to be lowered and the
rowers to pull dead to windward. The discomfited
savages looked on in amazement to see the prize slip
through their fingers so easily. It was a narrow escape,
for had Stanley landed, he would doubtless have been
302 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
overpowered, before he could use his weapons, and
killed.
It was now late in the afternoon, and the savages
made no attempt to follow them, and at dusk, coming to
a small island, they tied up and camped for the night,
lulled to sleep by the murmur df the waves on the beach.
The next day continuing their course, they at last
sailed into the bay, which forms the north-eastern ex-
tremity of the Victoria Nyanza. The eastern side of
this bay is lined with bold hills and ridges, but at the
extreme end where the Tagama River comes in, the
country is flat. The expedition now began to move
westward in its slow circumnavigation of the lake, and
came at length to Muiwanda. Here .they found the
savages friendly, and they landed and obtained from
them, at fair prices, such provisions and vegetables as
they desired. They also gave Stanley all the infor-
mation they could of the neighboring country. They
told him that the name of the bay in which they rode,
and which was the extreme northern limit of the lake,
was Baringo. They had evidently not been great travel-
ers or much visited by any tribes living away from their
own coast, for they said that they had never heard of
any other lake great or small, except that one — the
Nyanza. Considering that this whole central reigon of
Africa is dotted with lakes, and that the Tanganika, an
inland sea, is not three hundred miles distant, it is evi-
dent they must live very much isolated from any but
their own people. Stanley had now surveyed the
southern, eastern and north-eastern shores of the lake,
and had taken thirty-seven observations and entered
almost every nook and cove of this vast body of water.
He had corrected the map of Speke, made on the report
of the natives — proved that he was wrong in his latitude
of the lake, and taken such ample notes that he could
make out an accurate chart of that portion he had thus
traversed. He makes the extreme eastern point of the
lake end in 34° 35' east longitude, and 33' 43" north
latitude.
THOROUGH WORK. 303
After he had finished his exploration thus far, Stanley
goes over his route, giving a general description of the
country, the location and approximate size of the various
districts, and general character of the inhabitants. The
north shore he found indented -with deep bays, and so
completely land-locked, that they might easily be mis-
taken for separate lakes, while the islands clustered so
thickly and closely to the shore that unless thoroughly
examined, they would be taken for portions of the main-
land. But Stanley has traced it out so plainly, that the
outline of the shore is as distinct as that of Lake Ontario.
CHAPTER XXVI.
EXPLORATION OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA.
Stanley the first white man that ever sailed around it — Establishes the
southern source of the Nile — Treachery of the natives — Stanley's
revenge — A hostile fleet scattered by him — Three men killed — Two
singular islands— The Ripon falls — The Nile — Curious inlets —
Mtesa, king of Uganda — His reception of Stanley — Imposing cere-
monies — A noble native monarch — His capital — His army and large
territory — Half converted to Christianity by Stanley — Anxious to
have missionaries sent to his country — Stanley's mode of sending
them and the kind of men they should be — A mission established
and broken up — False statements in the papers about it corrected.
voyage continued along the northern and then
western shore of the lake, revealing at almost every
turn new features of scenery and some new formation of
land or new characteristic of the people, till the journey
was like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope. A tribe friendly
and trusting would be succeeded by one suspicious or
treacherous, so that it was impossible to be governed by
any general rule, and Stanley was compelled to be con-
stantly on the alert, watching the motions of each tribe
without reference to the actions of the last, and laying
his plans accordingly. He continued his course down
20
304 EXPLOKATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the western shore toward his camp from which he
started, finding this side more densely populated than
the others, and the tribes that occupied it of a more in-
dependent, fearless character, and more inclined to
hostilities. At Uvuma, an independent country and
the largest on the Victoria Nyanza, the hostility took a
more determined form. The natives made signs of
friendship to induce them to come near the shore. They
did so, sailing up to a few yards of it. At that point a
large mass of natives were hid behind the trees, who
suddenly rose and hurled a shower of huge stones at the
boat in order to sink it, several striking it. Stanley in-
stantly ordered the helm to be put hard up, and the
boat was quickly steered away from the dangerous spot,
but not before Stanley, enraged at this act of treachery,
leveled his revolver at the wretches and dropped one of
them. Going on some miles farther, they entered a
channel between some islands and the shore, when they
discovered a fleet of canoes, thirteen in number, with
over one hundred warriors in them, armed with shells,
and spears, and slings. The foremost one had some
sweet potatoes aboard, which one of the natives held up
as though he wished to trade. Stanley ordered the
crew to ease rowing, but as the breeze was light the sail
was kept up, but the progress was so slow that this
canoe soon came up. While he was bargaining for the
potatoes, the other boats approached and completely sur-
rounded the Lady Alice and began to reach over and
seize everything they could lay hands on. Stanley
warned them away with his gun, when they jeered at
him and immediately seized their spears, while one man
held up a string of beads he had stolen and dared Stan-
ley to catch him. With that promptness which has
many a time saved his life the latter drew his revolver
and shot the villain dead. Spears instantly flashed in the
air, but Stanley seizing his repeating rifle poured shot after
shot into them, knocking over three of them in as many
seconds, when the amazed warriors turned in flight.
He then seized his elephant rifle and began to pour its
CUKIOUS PHENOMENON. 305
heavy shot into their canoes, throwing them into the
wildest confusion. As they now continued on their
way, an occasional shot from the big gun waked the
echoes of the shore to announce beforehand what treat-
ment treachery would receive. As they kept on north
they felt the current drawing them on, and soon they
came to the Ripon Falls, their foam and thunder con-
trasting strangely with the quietness of the lake a short
time before, and the silence and tranquility of the scene.
It was the Nile starting on its long journey to the Med-
iterranean, fertilizing Egypt in its course. Coasting
westerly, they came to the island of Krina, where they
obtained guides to conduct them to King Mtesa, the
most renowned king of the whole region. Sending
messengers to announce to the king his arrival, Stanley
continued to coast along Uganda, everywhere treated
with kindness, so far as words went, but very niggardly
in fact.
Here he observed a curious phenomenon. He dis-
covered an inlet in which there was a perceptible tide,
the water flowing north for two hours and then south
for the same length of time. On asking the guides if
this was usual, they said yes, and it was common to all
the inlets on the coast of Uganda. At Beya they were
welcomed by a fleet of canoes sent to conduct them to the
king.
On the 4th of April, Stanley landed, amid the waving
of flags, volleys of musketry, and shouts of two thousand
people, assembled to receive him. The chief officer then
conducted him to comfortable quarters, where, soon after,
sixteen goats, ten oxen, and bananas, sweet potatoes,
plantains, chickens, rice, milk, butter, etc., etc., in profuse
quantities were sent him.
KING MTESA.
In the afternoon, the king sent word that he was
ready to receive him. Issuing from his quarters, Stan-
ley found himself in a street eighty feet broad and a half
306 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
a mile long, lined with the personal guards, officers, at-
tendants and retinue of the king, to the number of three
thousand. At the farther end of this avenue was the
king's residence, and as Stanley advanced he could
dimly see the form of the king in the entrance, sitting in
a chair. At every step volleys of musketry were fired
and flags waved, while sixteen drums beaten together
kept up a horrible din. As he approached the house,
the king, a tall, slender figure, dressed in Arab costume,
arose and advancing held out his hand in silence, while
the drums kept up their loud tattoo. They looked on
each other in silence. Stanley was greatly embarrassed
by the novelty of the situation, but soon the king, tak-
ing a seat, asked him to be seated also, while a hundred
of his captains followed their example. Lifting his eyes
to the king, Stanley saw a tall and slender man, but
with broad, powerful shoulders. His eyes were large,
his face intelligent and amiable, while his mouth and
nose were a great improvement on those of che ordinary
negro, being more like those of a Persian Arab. As soon
as he began to speak, Stanley was captivated by his
courteous, affable manner. He says he was infinitely
superior to the sultan of Zanzibar, and impressed you as
a colored gentleman who had learned his manners by
contact with civilized, cultivated men, instead of being,
as he was, a native of Central Africa, who had never
seen but three white men before in his life. Stanley
was astonished at his native polish, and he felt he had
found a friend in this great king of this part of the
country, where the tribal territories are usually so small.
His kingdom extends through three degrees of longitude
and almost as many of latitude. He professes Islamism
now, and no cruelties are practised in his kingdom. He
has a guard of two hundred men, renegadoes from
Baker's expedition, and defalcators from Zanzibar, and
the elite of his own kingdom.
Behind his throne or arm-chair stood his gun-bearers,
shield-bearers, and lance-bearers, and on either side
were arranged his chief courtiers, governors of provinces,
A NATUEAL BORN KING. 307
etc., while outside streamed away the long line of his
warriors, beginning with the drummers and goma-
beaters. Mtesa asked him many intelligent questions,
and Stanley found that this was not his home, but that
he had come there with that immense throng of warriors
to shoot birds. In two or three days, he proposed to
return to his capital at Uragara. The first day, for
Stanley's entertainment, the king gave a grand naval
review with eighty canoes, which made quite an impos-
ing display, which the king with his three hundred
wives and Stanley viewed from shore. The crews con-
sisted of two thousand five hundred men or more. The
second day, the king led his fleet in person to show his
prowess in shooting birds. The third day, the troops
were exercised at target practice,, and on the fourth, the
march was taken up for the capital. In him Stanley
sees the hope of Central Africa. He is a natural born
king, and tries to imitate the manners, as he understands
them, of European monarchs. He has constructed broad
roads which will be ready for vehicles whenever they
are introduced. The road they travelled increased from
twenty to one hundred and fifty feet as they approached
the capital which crowned a commanding eminence
overlooking a beautiful country covered with tropical
fruit and trees. Huts are not very imposing, but a tall
flagstaff', and an immense flag, gave some dignity to the
surroundings.
The capital is composed of a vast collection of huts on
an eminence crowned by the royal quarters, around
which ran five several palisades and circular courts, be-
tween which and the city runs a circular road from one
hundred to two hundred feet in width, from whence
radiate six or seven magnificent avenues lined with
gardens and huts.
The next day Stanley was introduced into the palace
in state. The guards were clothed in white cotton
dresses, while the chiefs were attired in rich Arab cos-
tumes. This palace was a large, lofty structure, built of
grass and cane, while tall trunks of trees upheld the
308 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
roof — covered inside with cloth sheeting. On the fourth
day, the exciting news was received that another white
man was approaching the capital. It proved to be
Colonel Lerant de Bellfonds of the Egyptian service, who
had been dispatched by Colonel Gordon to make a treaty
of commerce with the king and the khedive of Egypt.
This Mtesa, we said, was a Mohammedan, having been
converted by Khamis Bin Abdullah some four or five
years before. This Arab, from Muscat, was a man of
magnificent presence, of noble descent, and very rich,
and dressed in splendid Oriental costume. Mtesa be-
came fascinated with him, and the latter stayed with
the king over a year, giving him royal presents, and
dressing him in gorgeous attire.
No wonder this brilliant stranger became to such a
heathen a true missionary. But Stanley, in a conversa-
tion with the king, soon upset his new faith, and he
agreed at once to observe the Christian as well as the
Moslem Sabbath, to which his captains also agreed. He,
moreover, caused the Ten Commandments, and the
Lord's Prayer, and the Golden Rule, " Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself," to be written on a board for
his daily perusal. In stating this remarkable fact,
Stanley says : " Though I am no missionary, I shall be-
gin to think I may become one if such success is so
feasible ; " and exclaims, " Oh, that some pious, practical
missionary would come here. What a. field and harvest
ripe for the sickle of the Gospel. Mtesa would give him
everything he desired — houses, cattle, lands, ivory, etc.
He might call a province his own in one day." But he
says he must not be a theological one, nor a missionary
of creeds, but a practical Christian, tied to no church or
sect, but simply profess God and His Son, and live a
blameless life, and be able to instruct them in building
houses, cultivating land, and all those things that go to
make up human civilization. Such a man, he says,
would become the saviour of Africa. He begged Stan-
ley to tell them to come, and he would give them all
they wanted.
A GOOD MISSIONARY NEEDED. . 309
The subjects of this heathen king number not far
from two millions, and Stanley affirms that one good
missionary among them would accomplish more toward
the regeneration of Africa in one year than all other
missionaries on the continent put together. He suggests
that the mission should bring to Mtesa several suits of
military clothes, heavily embroidered, pistols, swords,
dinner service, etc., etc. This sounds rather strange to
the modern missionary, and seems like trusting too
much to " carnal weapons," but it is eminently practical.
Anything to give the missionary a firm footing on which
to begin his labors is desirable, if not wrong in itself or
leading to wrong. For its own use the mission should,
he says, bring also hammers, saws, drills for blasting,
and blacksmith and carpenter tools, etc. In short the
missionary should not attempt to convert the black man
to his religious views simply by preaching Christ, but
that civilization, the hand-maiden of religion, should
move side by side with it in equal step. The practical
effect of the missionary work, in order to influence the
natives, must not be merely a moral change, which
causes the convert to abjure the rites and follies of pa-
ganism, but to lift the entire people, whether converted
or not to Christianity, to a higher plane of civilization.
We know there are different theories on this subject, but
we think that Stanley's mode might safely be tried. It
was tried, after a fashion, almost immediately, but the
station has been broken up and the missionaries mur-
dered.
Perhaps it is as good a place here as anywhere to cor-
rect a wrong statement that has been going the rounds
of the papers, which puts Stanley in a false light. It
was not pretended that King Mtesa had anything to do
with this outrage, but that a tribe with which Stanley
had had a fight, killing some of its number, committed
it in revenge for what he did. The truth is, the mis-
sion was established by some enthusiasts, and some three
or four started with false views and hopes entirely.
Only two of them reached the ground, one of them not
310 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
being a minister. They were, however, well received,
and allowed to go to work. The king, or chief, of a
neighboring tribe, had a daughter with whom a native
fell in love. This man was repugnant to the father, and
he refused to let him have his daughter for a wife.
The consequence was they eloped and fled to the island
on which the missionaries were stationed, and placed
themselves under their protection and remained with
them. The enraged savage heard of this, and doubtless
believing that the missionaries had connived at the
elopement — certainly harbored the fugitives against his
wish — attacked the station and murdered the mission-
aries. How much or how little they were to blame, or if
not guilty of any wrong, how unwisely they acted, they
unfortunately do not live to tell us. But Stanley's con-
duct in that region had nothing to do with the tragedy.
It was an act of wild justice by an enraged and savage
chieftain, and militates in no way against carrying out
the project of Stanley.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Stanley continues his explorations — Drunken natives — A suspicious
reception — A Peaceful night — A Wild waking up — A startling spec-
tacle— Hurried departure — Magassa's fleet — Lack of food — A fearful
storm — Bnmbireh Island — A bright prospect — Stanley entrapped —
In deadly peril — A crowd of demons — A fearful night — Prompt
action — Barely saved — Swift and terrible revenge — A frightful storm
— Refuge Island — A grateful camp — Provisions secured — Another
storm — A staunch boat — Steering for camp — His joyful greeting —
Excitement of the men — The secret of the men's affection for him.
THOUGH the royal hospitality was very grateful after
his long toils, and the intercourse with a white man
in that remote land was refreshing, and he longed to rest,
yet Stanley felt he must be about his work. To finish
this would require much time, and he had now been long
absent from his men, who might prove intractable while
he was away, and he was anxious to get back, for the
STANLEY'S EXPLORATIONS RESUMED. 311
exploration of this lake was only the beginning of what
he proposed to do.
With two canoes belonging to his friend, King Mtesa
accompanying him as an escort until the grand admiral
of his sable majesty, Magassa, who, with thirty canoes,
had been detached for his service, should overtake him,
he set sail from the river and camped that night on
a smooth, sandy beach, at a point called Kagya. The
natives who lived there received them in a friendly, and
for African negroes, hospitable manner. Stanley took
this as a good augury of the reception he should meet
with along the coast of Usongora, which he designed to
explore.
In the morning he again set sail, and sweeping leisurely
along, came in the afternoon to the village of Makongo.
As the Lady Alice approached the shore, he saw a crowd
of naked savages squatted on the ground, sucking the
everlasting pombe, or beer, through a straw, just as white
men do punch or a sherry cobler. As the boat reached
the shore, the chief, with the vacant stare of a drunkard,
arose and reeled toward him and welcomed him in a
friendly though maudlin manner. The natives also ap-
peared good-natured and quite content with their arrival.
After they had satisfied their curiosity by examining
him and his boat, they went away, leaving him to
arrange his camp for the night and prepare his supper.
The sun went down in glory beyond the purple moun-
tains— a slight ripple dimpled the surface of the lake,
while slender columns of smoke ascended here and there,
along the shore from the huts of the natives; and all was
calm and peaceful, though wild and lonely. As night
came down, and the stars, one by one, came out in the
tropical sky, Stanley and his chosen men stretched them-
selves on their mats, and, unsuspicious of danger, fell
asleep. About ten o'clock he was suddenly awakened
by a loud and hurried beating of drums, with ever and
anon a chorus of shrieks and yells that rung through the
clear, still air with a distinctness and sharpness that
made the blood shiver. Stanley immediately aroused his
312 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
men, and they listened, wondering what it foreboded.
The lake was still below and the heavens calm and
serene above, but all around it seemed as if demons of
the infernal regions were out on their orgies. Stanley
thought it was the forerunner of an attack on the camp,
but Mtesa's men, the Waganda, told him that the drum-
ming and yelling were the wild welcome of the natives
to a stranger. He doubted it, for he had seen too many
savage tribes, and knew their customs too well to believe
this blood-curdling discordant din was a welcome to
him.
It is strange that he did not at once quietly launch
his boat and lie off the rest of the night a little way from
the shore till morning, and see what it all meant. It
would seem that ordinary prudence would have prompt-
ed this. His neglect to do so, very nearly cost him his
life, and ended there his explorations. For some reason
or other, which he does not give, he determined to Ire-
main where he was, contenting himself with the precau-
tion of placing his weapons close beside him, and direct-
ing his eleven men to load their guns and put them
under their mats. He lay down again, but not to sleep,
for all night long the furious beat of drums and unearthly
yells rung out over the lake, keeping him not only
awake, but anxious. At daybreak he arose, and as he
stepped out of his tent, he started as if he had seen an
apparition, for in the gray light of the morning, he saw
five hundred naked, motionless, forms, with bows, shields
and spears, standing in a semicircle around him, and com-
pletely cutting him off from his boat and the lake. It
was a fearful moment, and to his inquiry what it meant,
no answer was given. There was no shouting or yell-
ing, none of the frantic gesticulations so common to the
African savage. On the contrary, they wore a calm and
composed, though stern and determined aspect. Shoulder
to shoulder like a regiment of soldiers they stood, the
forest of spears above them glittering in the early light.
There was nothing to be done — Stanley was entrapped,
and with the first attempt to escape or seize his rifle
A HURRIED DEPARTURE. 313
would be transfixed by a hundred spears. It was too
late to repent the folly of not heeding the warning of the
night before, and so he calmly stood and faced the crowd
of stern malignant faces. For some minutes this solitary
white man met glance for glance, when the drunken
chief of the day before stalked into the semicircle, and
with a stick which he held in his hand forced back the
savages by flourishing it in their faces. He then advanc-
ed, and striking the boat a furious blow, shouted " be off,"
and to faciJitate matters, took hold and helped launch it.
Stanley was only too glad to obey him, and his heart
bounded within him as he felt the keel gliding into
deeper water, and soon a hundred rods were between
him and the savages that lined the shore. The Waganda
were still on the beach, and Stanley prepared to sweep
it with a murderous fire the moment they were attacked.
So dense was the crowd of natives, that had he fired at
that close range, he would have mowed them down with
fearful slaughter. But although there was much loud
wrangling and altercation, they were, at length, allowed
to embark, and followed him as he sailed away toward
the isle of Musua. He had learned a lesson that he did
not soon forget.
The whole had been a strange proceeding, and why he
was not killed, when so completely in their power, can
be accounted for only on the ground that they were in
Mtesa's dominions, and feared he would take terrible
revenge for the murder. Later in the day this drunken
chief came to visit him on the island, and demanded
why he had come and what he wanted. Being told, he
went away, and sent three branches of bananas, and left
him and his party to their fate. They rested here
quietly till afternoon, when they saw Magassa's fleet
coming slowly down the lake, steering for a neighboring
island. The canoes were beached and the men disem-
barked and began to prepare their camp for the night.
Stanley was getting impatient at these delays, and
thinking he would quicken Magassa's movements by
hastening forward, he set sail for Alice Island, thirty-
314 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
five miles distant. The two chiefs, with the escorting
canoes, accompanied him for a mile and a-half, but, get-
ing alarmed" at the aspect of the weather, turned back,
shouting, as they did so, that as soon as it moderated
they would follow. Bowling along before a spanking
breeze, the little craft danced gayly over the cresting
waves, and when night came down and darkness fell on
the lonely lake, kept steadily on and, finally, at mid-
night reached the island, where they luckily struck upon
a sheltered cove and came to anchor. When morning
dawned they found they were almost against the base of
a beetling cliff, with overhanging rocks all around them,
dotted with the fires of the natives. These came down
to the shore holding green wisps of grass in their hands
as tokens of friendliness. Stanley and his men were
hungry, and now rejoiced in the prospect of a good
breakfast. But these friendly natives, seeing their need,
became so extortionate in their demands, that they
would not trade with them, and Stanley determined to
steer for Bumbireh Island, twenty-five miles distant,
and obtain food.
The breeze was light and they made slow headway,
and it was evidently going to be a long sail to the island.
As the sun went down, huge black clouds began to roll
up the sky, traversed by lightning, while the low growl
of thunder foretold a coming storm. As the clouds rose
higher and higher the lightning became more vivid, and
the thunder broke with startling peals along the water,
and soon the rain came down in torrents, drenching
them to the skin. The waves began to rise while dark-
ness, black as midnight, settled down on the lake. The
little craft tossed wildly on the water, and the prospect
before them looked gloomy enough. Fortunately, about
midnight, they came upon Pocoke Island, and anchored
under its lee amid thunder and lightning, and rain and
the angry roar of the surf on every side. All night long
the flashes lit up the angry scene, while the heavy,
tropical thunder shook the bosom of the lake. The
haven they had reached was so poor a protection that
A FEARFUL NIGHT. 315
all hands were kept bailing to prevent the boat from
foundering at her anchor.
We have a very faint idea in our northern latitudes
of what a thunder-storm is in the tropics, and the slight
affair that Stanley made of it is one of those apparently
insignificant and yet most striking illustrations of his
character. Storms on the water — starvation on land —
deadly perils of all kinds are spoken of by him as one
would speak of the ordinary incidents of travel. He
has no time, and apparently no taste, for sensational
writing ; or perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say
— in his cool courage, calm self-reliance, and apparent
contempt of death, he does not see the dramatic side of
the scenes in which he performs so important a part.
The most tragic events — the most perilous crises are
treated by him as ordinary events. An escape so narrow
that one's heart stops beating as he contemplates it, he
narrates with as much coolness and apparent indifference
as he would his deliverance from a disagreeable com-
panion.
In the morning, Stanley, as he looked around .him and
saw the surf breaking on every side, ordered the anchor
up and the sail hoisted, for this was too dangerous a
place for the Lady Alice. The thunder-storm had
passed, and a stiff north-east breeze had sprung up, be-
fore which he bowled swiftly along, and in three hours
reached the mouth of a quiet cove near the village of
Kajuri, at the south-eastern extremity of Bumbireh
Island. After the storm and peril of the last forty-eight
hours, it was a welcome sight that greeted them. The
green slopes of this gem set in the sparkling waters
were laden with fruits and covered with cattle. Groves
of bananas, herds of cattle lazily feeding, and flocks of
goats promised an abundance of food ; and Stanley and
his men, as they drew near the lovely, inviting shore,
reveled in anticipation of the rest and good cheer await-
ing them. Filled with the most peaceful intentions
themselves — their hearts made glad at the sight of the
bountiful provisions before them — they did not dream
316 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of any hostility, when suddenly they heard a wild,
shrill war-cry from the plateau above the huts of the
village near the shore, on which were gathered a crowd
of excited men. Stanley was surprised at this unex-
pected hostile demonstration, and halted just as the
boat was about to ground, to ascertain what it meant.
The savages in the meantime were rushing wildly to-
ward the shore in front of where the boat lay rocking on
the water. As they approached, they suddenly changed
their warlike attitude, and, ceasing their loud yells, as-
sumed a friendly manner, and invited them to land in
tones and gestures so kind and affable that Stanley's
first suspicions were at once disarmed, and he ordered
the rowers to send the boat ashore. But the moment
the keel grated on the pebbly beach, all this friendliness
of manner changed, and the naked savages rushed into
the water, and seizing the boat, lifted it up bodily and,
with all on board, carried it high and dry on the bank.
Stanley was terribly aroused at this sudden treachery,
and reckless of consequences, determined to avenge it,
and twice he raised his revolver to shoot down the
audacious wretches, but his crew begged him to desist,
declaring earnestly that these people were friends, and
that if he would wait a few minutes, he would see that
all was right. He accordingly sat down in the stern
sheets and waited to see the end. In the meantime, the
savages came leaping from the hill-sides, tossing their
naked limbs in the air, and uttering loud yells, till a
wild frantic multitude completely surrounded the boat
in which Stanley still sat unmoved and calm. The
wretches seemed crazed with passion, and poised their
spears as if about to strike him, and drew their arrows
to the head, one discharge of which would have riddled
Stanley, struck the boat by his side with their spear
handles, gnashed their teeth, foaming at the mouth, and
yelling till their eyes seemed bursting from their sockets.
Stanley, however, never moved nor uttered a word.
His life did not seem worth a thought in that frenzied,
demoniacal crowd. But resistance and expostulation
A CHIEF IX S. E. AFRICA.
U
A. TRYING SITUATION. 319
were alike useless, and he could do nothing but wait the
final assault, and then sell his life dearly as possible.
For some strange, unaccountable reason, their chief,
Thekha, kept them from the last act of violence, and at
last so quieted them that Stanley calmly asked him how
much he demanded to let him go. The most curious
part of this whole affair is, that the chief condescended
to enter into negotiations with Stanley. Everything
the latter had was in the boat, and he had only to give
the word, and in five minutes all was his. But instead
of doing this, he struck up a bargain with Stanley, and
agreed to let him off for four cloths and ten necklaces of
large beads. Stanley at once took them from his pack-
ages and gave them to him. But no sooner had he re-
ceived them, than he gave a quick order to his men to
seize the oars of the boat. In a twinkling, before Stan-
ley had time to think what they were about, the oars
were caught up and carried away. The natives seeing
through the treacherous trick, enjoyed it thoroughly,
and their loud laughing jeers roused all the devil in
Stanley's nature, but he still said nothing. Having got
possession of the oars, they thought he was helpless as
a tortoise on his back, and became quiet, seemingly en-
joying the white man's helplessness. Having no fear of
his escape, they at noon leisurely walked to their huts to
get their noonday meal, and to discuss what the next
move should be. Stanley says he was not idle, he
wished to impose on the savages by his indifferent
manner, but he was all the while planning how to
escape, and the best mode of meeting the attack when it
came.
While the savages were at their dinner, a negress
came near them and told them to eat honey with Thekha,
as it was the only way to save their lives, for he had
determined to kill them and take every thing they had.
Stanley permitted his coxswain to go to Thekha and
make the proposition to him to eat honey. The wily
chief told him to be at ease, no harm was intended them,
and next day he would eat honey with them. The cox-
320 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
swain returned delighted, and reported the good news.
But Stanley checked the confidence of the men, and told
them that nothing but their own wit and courage could
save their lives. This was all a trick, and their next
move would be to seize their guns, as they had the oars,
when they would be helpless, and by no means to leave
the boat, but be prepared at any moment when he should
give the word to act. The men saw at once the truth of
Stanley's suspicions, and kept close by him.
Thus nearly three long hours passed away, neither he
nor his crew doing or attempting to do anything. But,
about three o'clock, the war-drums began again their
horrid din, and soon the loping, naked savages were seen
running from every quarter, and in half an hour five
hundred warriors had gathered around the chief within
thirty paces of the boat. He was sitting down, and
when the warriors were all assembled he made them an
address. As soon hs he had finished, about fifty of them
dashed up to Stanley's men, and seizing his drum, bore it
back in triumph. From some cause or other, this last
and most harmless act of all aroused Stanley's suspicions
to a point that made him act promptly and decisively.
Perhaps it was their scornful, insulting language, as
they walked off, bidding him get his guns ready, as they
were coming back soon to cut his throat. At all events,
the moment he saw them approach the chief with the
drum, he shouted to his men to push the boat into the
water. The eleven men sprang to its sides, and lifting
it as if it had been a toy, carried it, with Stanley in it, to
the water's edge, and shot it, with one desperate effort,
far out into the lake and beyond their depth, and where
they had to swim for it. Quickly as it was done, the
savages instantly detected the movement, and before the
boat had lost its headway were crowding the very edge
of the water, to which they had rushed like a whirlwind,
shouting and yelling like madmen. Seizing his elephant
rifle, Stanley sent two large conical balls into the dense
mass with frightful effect. Then pulling one of the men
into the boat, and bidding him help the others in, he
ESCAPE FROM THE SAVAGES. 321
seized his double barreled gun, loaded with buck-shot,
and fired right and left into the close-packed naked
crowd. It was like firing with small shot into a flock
of pigeons, and a clean swath was cut through the naked
mass, which was so stunned at the horrible effect, that
they ran back up the slope without hurling a spear or
shooting an arrow.
With the oars gone, the great struggle would be to
get out into the open lake, where they could hoist sail ;
for, this once accomplished, they could bid defiance to
their enemies. Stanley knew the first move of the sav-
ages would be to man their canoes, which lined the shore,
and surround his helpless vessel and overwhelm him.
He therefore watched the first movement to launch a
canoe, and as soon as a desperate-looking savage made
the attempt he dropped him with a bullet through his
body. A second followed his example, fell on the beach,
when they paused at the certain death that seemed to
await the man who dared to touch a boat. Just then
Stanley caught sight of the sub-chief, who commanded
the party that took the drum, and taking a cool, delib-
erate aim at him with his elephant rifle he sent one of
its great conical balls tearing through his body, killing
at the same time his wife and infant, behind him. This
terrified them, for there seemed something supernatural
about this deadly work, and they ceased their efforts to
launch the boats, and hastened to get out of the reach of
such fatal firing. In the meantime the men were slowly
working the boat toward the mouth of the cove. But,
just as they were feeling safe, Stanley saw two canoes,
loaded heavily with warriors, push out of a little bay
and pull toward him. Putting two explosive shells into
his elephant rifle, he waited till they came within the
distance where they would be most destructive, and
then commenced firing. He fired rapidly, but being a
dead-shot, with great accuracy, and the shells, as they
struck inside the canoes, burst with terrible effect. Four
shots killed five men and sunk both the canoes, leaving
the warriors to swim ashore. This ended the fight, and
21
322 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the enraged and baffled crowd vented their fuiy by
shouting out, "Go and die in the Nyanza."
Stanley's rapid deadly firing killed fourteen, and
wounded with buckshot eight, which he coolly remarks,
" I considered to be very dear payment for the robbery
of eight ash oars and a drum, though barely equivalent,
in our estimation, to the intended massacre of ourselves."
This cool-blooded treachery and narrow escape roused
Stanley's whole nature, and terrible as had been the
punishment he had inflicted, he resolved that he would
make it more terrible still before he had done with them.
During the perils of the next night that followed, he
had plenty of time to nurse his wrath. Having got clear
of the land, he hoisted sail, and favored by a light
breeze, by night was eight miles from the treacherous
Bumbireh. A little after dark the breeze died away,
and he set the men to paddling. But, their oars being
gone, they made slow headway. At sunrise they were
only twenty miles from the island, but near noon, a
strong breeze springing up from the north-west, they
bowled along at the rate of five miles an hour, and soon
saw it sink in the distant horizon. At sunset they saw
an island named Sousa, toward which they steered, hop-
ing to reach it by midnight and find a safe haven. But
about eight o'clock the breeze began to increase till it
rose to a fierce gale, and the sail had to be taken in.
Being without oars they could not keep the light boat
before the wind, and she whirled away by it like a
feather, and wallowed amid the waves that kept increas-
ing, till it seemed impossible to keep much longer afloat.
The men strove desperately with their boards for paddles
to reach the island, and get to the leeward of it, till the
storm should break, but it was of no avail. They were
swept by it like a piece of drift-wood, and the lightning,
as it lit up its green sides, seemed to mock their despair.
The terrific crash of the thunder, the roar of the tem-
pest, and the wild waste of the wrathful water as it was
incessantly lit up by the blinding flashes, made it the
most terrific night Stanley had ever passed in all his
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE. 323
wide wanderings. Between the dashing of the waves
over the gunwale and the downfalling deluge of rain,
the helpless boat rapidly filled, and it required constant
and rapid bailing to keep it from going to the bottom.
The imagination cannot conceive the terrors that sur-
rounded that little boat with its helpless crew on that
storm-swept lake during that long, wild night. Above
them rushed the angry clouds, pierced incessantly by
the lightning ; the heavy thunder shook the very hea-
vens, while all around them were islands and rocks, and
a few miles ahead, the main-land peopled by hostile
savages. Yet, amid all their terror, the men worn out
with their long fasting and exhausting labors, would
drop asleep, till awakened by the stern order to bail.
The men of Bumbireh had shouted after them, "go and
die in the Nyariza," and they now seemed to be pro-
phetic words. Stanley remembered them, and he lived
to make the murderous savages remember them, too.
At daybreak the tempest broke, and the waves not
having the heavy roll of the ocean, quickly subsided, and
they saw they had drifted eight miles off the Isle of
Susa, which they had made such desperate efforts to
reach the night before, while other islands rose in the
distance. There was not a morsel of food in the boat,
and it was now forty eight hours since they had tasted
any, yet the men took to their paddles cheerfully. Soon
a gentle breeze set in from the westward, and, hoisting
sail, they steered for an unknown island, which Stanley
named Refuge Island. It was small and uninhabited,
but on exploring it, they discovered that the natives
had once occupied and cultivated it. To their great
joy, they found green bananas, and a small fruit resem-
bling cherries, but tasting like dates. Stanley succeeded,
also, in shooting two fat ducks. The men soon stripped
these of their feathers and had them in the pot, with
which, and the fruit, they made what seemed to them,
in their famished condition, a right royal repast. The
camp was pitched close by the sandy beach, and when
night closed sweetly in on the wanderers, " there were
324 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
few people in the world," says Stanley, " blessed God
more devoutly than we did." And well they might, for
their double deliverance, from the savages on shore and
the tempest on the water, was almost miraculous.
They rested here all the next day recruiting, and then
set sail, and coming to friendty natives, laid in a supply
of provisions. While at anchor, some of the men plucked
the poultry they had bought, and they feasted till they
were thoroughly satisfied.
At midnight a favorable wind rising, they set sail for
Usukuma. About three in the morning they were in
the middle of the Speke Gulf, from which they had
started nearly two months before, and bound for their
camp. The wind had died away, and the water lay
calm and unruffled beneath the tropical sky. But this
calm was only the prelude to a fearful storm. Clouds,
black as ink, began to roll up the heavens, their edges
corrugated and torn by the contending forces that urged
them on, while out from their foldings the lightning
leaped in blinding flashes, and the thunder, instead of
rolling in angry peals, came down in great crashes as if
the very frame-work of nature was rending, and then
the hail, in stones big as. filberts, beat down on their
uncovered heads. The waves rose to an astonishing
height, and tore like wild horses over the lake. The
boat became unmanageable, and was whirled along at
the mercy of the wind and waves. But the staunch
little craft outrode the fury of the gale, with a buoyancy
that surprised Stanley.
Next morning, although almost under the equator,
they saw the day dawn gray, and cheerless, and raw.
On taking his observations, Stanley found that he was
only about twenty miles north-west of his camp. The
news sent new life into the crew. They hoisted sail,
and, though at first the wind was unfavorable, yet, as
if good luck had come at last, it shifted astern, and,
with a full sail, they steered straight for camp — every
heart bounding with joy.
The men in camp discovered the boat when miles
AFFECTIONATE GREETING. 325
away, and hurrying to the shore sent up shout after
shout, and tossed their arms joyfully in the air. As the
boat drove swiftly on, the shouts were changed to
volleys of musketry and waving of flags, while " the
land seemed alive with leaping forms of glad-hearted
men." Rumors of their destruction had reached camp,
and his long absence seemed to confirm them, and they
had made up their minds, that, with their leader lost,
they must turn back. As the boat grated on the pebbly
shore, fifty men leaped into the water and seizing Stan-
ley lifted him bodily out, and, running up the bank,
placed him on their shoulders, and danced around the
camp like madmen. They seemed unable to contain
their joy. It showed how strong was the hold Stanley
had on their affections. Stern in enforcing discipline
and relentless in punishing crime, he was always careful
of their welfare, attentive to their wants, just in all his
dealings, and generous in his reward for good behavior
and faithful service, and, hence, had bound these simple
children of nature to him with cords of iron.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The work accomplished — Feelings of satisfaction — Pocoke's report — A
narrow escape for the expedition — Death of Barker— Sweet repose
— Pleasant memories — Future anticipations — Waiting for Magassa
— Eesolves to return to Uganda by land — Is prevented — Sends to
the king of Ukerewe — His request granted — Visits him— The inter-
view— Royal hospitality — A stratagem — Stanley starts for Uganda
—A new camp — Return to the old one — Conspirators foiled— Ref-
uge Island.
THE next morning, as Stanley looked out of his tent-
door upon the broad and beautiful lake that stretched
away to the distant horizon, it was with that intense
feeling of satisfaction with which one contemplates a
great and perilous undertaking, after well nigh aban-
doned, at last successfully accomplished. The waters,
glittering in the morning sun, had but a short time be-
326 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
fore seemed to him an angry foe, but now they wore a
friendly aspect. They seemed to belong to him. Liv-
ingstone, and Speke, and Burton, and others had looked
on that lake, and sighed in vain to solve the mystery
that enveloped it, while he had not only followed its
winding shores their entire length, but had sounded its
depths and fixed its geographical position forever. His
toils were over, and the victory won in this his first
great enterprise, and he could well look forward with
hope to the great work siill before him. His escapes
had been wonderful, and he might take them as good
omens for the future.
It seemed as if fate delighted to place him in positions
of danger, from which there appeared to be no escape,
in order to show her power to save him, under any and
all circumstances. Even now, when contemplating so
satisfactorily his success, he was startled by the narrow-
ness of his escape from a danger of which he had never
before dreamed. That trouble, disorder and desertion
might befall his camp during his absence he had often
feared, but now he was told by the men he had left in
charge of it that in a few hours more the expedition
would have broken up and disappeared forever.
This was Frank Pocoke's report. He said that a
rumor had reached camp that Stanley and his crew had
been taken prisoners soon after leaving, and he at once
sent off fifty soldiers to effect his release, who found the
report i'alse. They also heard of his fight with the Wam-
ma, and that he was killed. In the meantime a con-
spiracy had been formed by three neighboring tribes to
capture the camp and seize all the goods. It was dis-
covered, and everything put in the best state possible
to defeat it, when the whole fell through on account of
the sudden death of one of the conspirators and the dis-
affection of another.
With the report uncontradicted of Stanley's death,
nay, corroborated by his long absence, and in view of
the dangers surrounding them, the soldiers and men held
a meeting to determine what course they should take. He
DEATH OF BARKER. 327
had then been gone nearly a month and a half, and it
should not have taken more than half that time to have
circumnavigated the lake with a boat, that in a fair
breeze could go five or six miles an hour.
Something must have happened to him, that was cer-
tain, and it mattered little whether it was death or cap-
tivity. It was finally decided to wait fifteen days longer,
or till the new moon, when, if he did not appear, th?y
would strike camp and march back to Unyanyembe.
The fifteen days would have expired the next day after
Stanley's arrival. If, therefore, he had been delayed
forty-eight hours longer, instead of being received with
the waving of flags, shouts and volleys oi musketry, and
wild demonstrations of delight, there would have been
no welcome, but a silent, deserted camp. This would
have been a terrible blow, and dashed all the joy he felt
at his task, successfully accomplished, with the bitterest
disappointment. But he had been saved all this; still
one calamity had befallen him for which there was no
remedy — young Barker had died only a few days before
his arrival, and six of his strong men had fallen victims
to dysentery and fever. Thus while in all the danger
through which he had passed on the lake, he had not
lost a man, seven had died while lying idly in a healthy
camp. The death of Barker he felt keenly, for of the
three white men who had started with him, two had
already fallen, and now only one was left.
In writing to his mother, announcing his death, and
expressing his sympathy with her in her affliction, he
thus speaks of the manner in which it occurred: "I was
absent on an exploring expedition on Lake Victoria,
having left Francis Pocoke and Frederick Barker in
charge of my camp. Altogether I was absent fifty-eight
days. When I returned, hoping that I would find that
all had gone well, I was struck with the grievous news
that your son had died twelve days before, of an inter-
mittent fever. What little I have been able to learn of
your son's death amounts to this: On April 22d, he went ;
out on the lake with Pocoke to shoot hippopotami, and '•
JIU
328 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
all day enjoyed himself. On the morning of the 23d he
went out for a little walk, had his tea and some pan-
cakes, washed himself, and then suddenly said he felt ill,
and lay down in bed. He called for a hot stone to be
put to his feet; brandy was given him, blankets were
heaped on him, but he felt such cold in his extremities
that nothing availed to restore heat in his body. His
blood seems to have become congealed. At eight o'clock,
an hour after he lay down, he was dead. Such is what
I have been able to glean from Pocoke of the manner of
his death. But by our next letter-carrier, Pocoke shall
send you a complete account." He then goes on to speak
of his excellent qualities and promising future, and his
own great loss.
One of the curious things that struck Stanley as he
looked on his party, was the strange contrast between
Pocoke's face and his own. The former being most of
the time in camp, had bleached to his old English white-
ness, while under the reflection of the fierce rays of an
equatorial sun, he had been burned till his face was the
color of a lobster — in fact, the natives had come to call
him, not the pale, but the recZ-faced man. to which his
blood-shot eyes gave a still more sanguinary appearance.
Now followed a season of rest and sweet repose ; and
how deep and sweet it was, may be gathered from his
own language. He says: "Sweet is the Sabbath day to
the toil-worn laborer, happy is the long sea-tossed mari-
ner on his arrival in port, and sweet were the days of
calm rest we enjoyed after our troublous exploration of
the Nyanza. The brusque storms, the continued rains,
the cheerless gray clouds, the wild waves, the loneliness
of the islands, the inhospitality of the natives that were
like mere phases of a dream, were now but the remin-
iscenes of the memory, so little did we heed what was
past while enjoying the luxury of a rest from our toils.
Still it added to our pleasure to be able to conjure up
in the mind the varied incidents of the long lake journey;
they served to enliven and employ the mind while the
body enjoyed repose, like condiments quickening diges-
BRIGHT ANTICIPATIONS. 329
tion. It was a pleasure to be able to map at will, in the
mind, so many countries newly discovered, such a noble
extent of fresh water explored for the first time. As
the memory flew over the lengthy track of exploration,
how fondly it dwelt on the many picturesque bays, mar-
gined by water-lilies and lotus plants, or by the green
walls of the slender reed-like papyrus, inclosing an area
of water, whose face was as calm as a mirror, because
lofty mountain ridges almost surround it. With what
kindly recognition it roved over the little green island
in whose snug haven our boat had lain securely at anchor,
when the rude tempest without churned the face of the
Nyanza into a foaming sheet." The lofty rocks once
more rose before him in imagination, while the distant
hills were outlined against the fervid horizon, and the
rich grain fields of some of the districts smiled in the sun.
But his memory dwelt with fondest recollection on
Uganda and its hospitable King Mtesa, for there, it not
only recalled the present, but pictured a glorious future,
in which smiling villages took the places of rude huts,
from the midst of which church spires rose, and the clear
tones of the bell called the dusky inhabitants to the
place of worship. As he thus lay dreaming, close by the
equatorial circle, he saw the land smiling in affluence and
plenty; its bays crowded with the dark hulls of trading
vessels, heard the sound of craftsmen at their work, the
roar of manufactories and foundries and the ever-buzzing
noise of industry.
With these bright anticipations of the future, the
happy result of his endeavors, would mingle his desper-
ate encounters with the savages, his narrow escapes, his
nights of danger in the tempestuous lake, his wonderful
success so near a failure at last; all these marvelous
experiences and events crowded on him as he lay and
rested, and dreamed on the shores of the lake that he
felt to be his own. If half that he had anticipated, as
he lay and rested and dreamed, turns out true, his name
will be linked with changes that will sink all his great
discoveries into nothing — moral changes and achieve-
330 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ments as much above mere material success as mind is
above matter — civilization above barbarism — Christian-
ity above Paganism.
This successful voyage and safe return inspired the
members of the expedition with renewed confidence in
their leader, and Stanley soon set about prosecuting the
great work to which he had devoted himself, and which,
with all its toils and dangers and great sacrifice of life,
had only just begun.
The Grand Admiral Magassa had not yet joined him.
There was no reason he had not done so, except that the
fight at Bumbireh and subsequent storm on the lake had
sent them wide apart. But he had two of Stanley's
best men with him, who would direct him to the camp
in Speke Bay, toward which he knew Stanley was work-
ing, and where he should have been before this time.
The latter waited nine days in camp for him, and then
concluding that he did not intend to come at all, re-
solved to march back overland with his party (as he had
no canoes to carry them by water) to Uganda. Just as
they were ready to start, there came into camp a negro
embassy from Ruoma, which lay between him and
Uganda on the land route, with the following message :
" Ruoma sends salaams to the white man. He does not
want the white man's cloth, beads or wire, but the
white man must not pass through his country. Ruoma
does not want to see him or any other man with long
red hair down to his shoulders, white face and big red
eyes. Ruoma is not afraid of him, but if the white man
will come near his country, Ruoma and Mirambo will
fight him."
"Here, indeed," as Stanley says, "was a dilemma."
Mtesa's admiral had proved false to the instructions
given him by the king, and no boats had arrived to
convey his party to Uganda by water, and now the
ruler of the district through which he must pass to
reach it by land forbade him to cross it. To force a
passage was impossible ; for Ruoma, besides having a
hundred and fifty muskets, and several thousand spear-
CANOES OBTAINED. 331
men and bowmen, had the dreaded Mirambo, with his
fierce warriors, within a day's march of him and ready
to aid him. Even if he could fight his way across the
country, it would be at a sacrifice of life that he could
not afford, and which the results he hoped to secure
would not justify. Still, he could not give up Uganda,
with its half-civilized king, for it was not only the most
interesting country that bordered on the lake, but it
comprised the unknown region lying between it and
Tanganika. If he could only get canoes from some other
quarter, he could take his party to Uganda by water ;
and once there, his friend Mtesa would give him all the
aid he wanted. He therefore set on foot inquiries re-
specting the various tribes bordering on the gulf on
which he was encamped, to ascertain the number of
canoes each possessed. He found that the king of
Ukerewe, the large island lying at the mouth of the
gulf, was the most likely person to have the canoes he
wanted, and he applied to him. But he was unable to
negotiate for them in person, as he was taken suddenly
and seriously ill — the result of his long exposure on the
lake under an equatorial sun — so sent Pocoke, with
Prince Kaduma, to make proposals for them. These,
taking a handsome present for the king, departed. In
twelve days they returned with fifty canoes, and some
three hundred natives under the command of the king's
brother ; but to convey him and his party to the king,
not to Uganda.
Stanley's joy at the sight of the canoes was dampened
by this request, and he told the king's brother that if the
former would give him all his land and cattle, he would
not let the expedition go to Ukerewe, but that he would
go himself, and he himself might return as soon as he
pleased. As soon as he was well enough he set out, and
on the second day reached the island. Knowing how
much was at stake, he put on his court costume, which
meant the best clothes in his wardrobe, and equipped
himself with his best arms, while his attendants bore
valuable presents.
332 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
The next day after his arrival was fixed for the great
audience. When the hour arrived Stanley mustered the
crew of the Lady Alice, who had been dressed for the
occasion, and the bugle sounded the order to march. In
ten minutes they came to a level stretch of ground, in
the centre of which was a knoll, where the king was
seated in state, surrounded b}r hundreds of bowmen and
spearmen. He was a young man, with a color tending
more to the mulatto than negro — possessing an amiable
countenance, and, altogether, he made a favorable im-
pression on Stanley. He was quite a conspicuous object
sitting on that knoll in the midst of warriors, for he was
wrapped in a robe of red and yellow silk damask cloth.
His reception of Stanley consisted in a long, steady stare,
but, being informed that the latter wished to state the
object of his visit to him and a few of his chiefs alone,
he stepped aside a short distance to a pile of stones and
invited them to join him. Stanley then stated what he
wanted, how far he wished the canoes to go, what he
would pay for them, etc., etc. The king listened atten-
tively, and replied in a kind and affable manner; but he
said his canoes were many of them rotten and unfit for
a long voyage, and he was afraid they would give out,
and then he would be blamed and accused of being the
cause of the loss of his property. Stanley replied that
he might blame the canoes, but not him. At the close
of the conference the king said he should have as many
canoes as he wanted, but he must remain a few days and
partake of his hospitality. This was given in no stint-
ed measure, for beeves, and goats, and chickens, and
milk, and eggs, and bananas, and plantains were fur-
nished in prodigal quantities, together with native beer
for the crew. They luxuriated in abundance, and on
the fifteenth day the king came to Stanley's tent with
his chief counselor, and gave him his secret instructions
and advice. He said he had ordered fifty canoes to
carry him as far as Usukuma, Stanley's camp, but his
people would not be willing to go to Uganda. He,
therefore, had resorted to stratagem, and caused it to
A NATIVE STKATAGEM. 333
be reported that Stanley was going to come and live
among them. He said that the latter must encourage
this report, and when he got to Usukuma, and the
canoes were drawn up on shore, he must seize them and
secure the paddles. Having thus rendered it impossible
for them to return, he was to inform them what he in-
tended to do.
Stanley having promised to obey his instructions im-
plicitly, the king sent with him his prime minister and
two favorites, and he departed, after leaving behind him a
handsome present as an earnest of what he would
do in the future. The natives bent to their paddles
cheerfully, and at length reached Stanley's camp ; but,
instead of fifty he found there were but twenty- three
canoes. Though disappointed, he was compelled to be
content with these.
He accordingly whispered his orders to the captains
of his expedition to muster their men and seize the
canoes and paddles. This was done and the canoes were
drawn up far on land, The astonished natives inquired
the meaning of this, and when told, flew into a furious
passion, and being about equal in number to Stanley's
party, showed fight. The latter saw at a glance that
any attempt to mollify them by talk would be fruitless,
and that energetic, prompt measures alone would an-
swer, and he immediately ordered the bugle to sound
the rally. The soldiers stepped quickly into line, when
he ordered a charge with the muzzles of their guns, and
the astonished, duped creatures were driven out of
camp and away from the shore. Stanley then held a
parley with them and proposed to send them back, and
did, or at least a portion of them, in four canoes, who
could return and- take off the rest, but the canoes he
kept, and on the third day started for Uganda with a
portion of the expedition, and at the end of five days
arrived at Refuge Island. Remembering when he was
there before, that the inhabitants of the mainland,
which was not more than six miles off, were not kindly
disposed toward him, he built a strong camp among the
334< EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
rocks, locating it so that each high rock could furnish a
position for sharp-shooters, and in every way he could
rendered it impregnable, in case it should be attacked
during his absence. As he had not been able to
embark all his expedition and baggage, he now re-
turned for them, reaching his old camp again after
an absence of fifteen days. He learned on his
arrival that two neighbouring chiefs were planning
to seize him and make him pay a heavy ransom.
He, however, said nothing ; spoke pleasantly every
day to one of them — Prince Kaduma, and made presents
to his pretty wife, and went on loading his canoes.
When the day of embarkation arrived, the two chiefs,
with a strong force came to the water's edge and looked
on moodily. Stanley appeared not to notice it, but
laughed and talked pleasantly, and proceeding leisurely
to the Lady Alice, ordered the boat's crew to shove her
off. When a short distance was reached, he halted, and
swinging broadside on shore, showed a row of deadly
guns in point-blank range of the shore. Taken com-
pletely aback by this sudden movement, and not daring
to make a hostile demonstration with those guns cover-
ing them, the treacherous chiefs let the process of em-
barkation go on without molestation, and soon the
last canoe was afloat and a final good-bye given to the
camp, a scornful farewell waved to the disappointed
natives on shore, and the little fleet steered for Refuge
Island. Rough weather followed, and the rotten canoes
gave out one after another, so that he had only fifteen
when he reached the island. He found the camp had
not been disturbed in his absence. On the contrary, the
neighboring kings and chiefs, seeing that his camp was
impregnable, had proffered their friendship and supplied
the soldiers with provisions. They also provided him
with a guide and sold him three canoes.
CHAPTER XXIX.
A rest — Eesolves to punish the Bumbireh — Sets sail — Message to the peo-
ple of Bumbireh — Imprisons the king of Iroba — The king of Bumbireh
in chains — • Arrival of Mtesa's canoes — Hostility of the natives — Moves
on Bumbireh — The savages expecting him — Plan of Battle — The
battle — Killed and wounded — Bejoicing over the victory — The na-
tives completely subdued — Stanley gives them a lecture — Effect of
the victory on the neighboring tribes — His losses — Prepares to start
for the Albert Nyanza — Size of the Victoria Nyanza — Muta Nzienge
— Is it and the Albert one lake — Stanley's journal and map do not
agree — Mtesa at war — Stanley aids him — Uganda — Abba Eega once
more — Baker's and Stanley's journal agree — Stanley asks for fifty
thousand men — Mtesa gives him two thousand.
STANLEY now rested a few days on this island be-
fore beginning his explorations. It was associated
in his mind with bitter memories, and as he wandered
over it, he remembered the insults he had received, and
his almost miraculous escape from death near it. The
treacherous Bumbireh was almost in sight, and it
awakened in him a strong desire for revenge, and he
determined to visit the island again, and demand
reparation for the wrongs he had received, and if it was
not given, to make war on them, and teach them a les-
son on good behavior. So at the end of three days he
set sail and camped on Mahyiga Island, five miles dis-
tant, and sent a message to the natives saying, that if
they would deliver their king and two principal chiefs
into his hands, he would make peace with them, other-
wise he would make war. This was a cool request, and
Stanley himself, suspecting it would be refused, sent a
party to invite the king of Iroba, an island only a mile
from Bumbireh, to visit him, who, dreading the ven-
geance of the white man, came, bringing with him three
chiefs. On what principle of morals Stanley will justify
his course we cannot say, but the moment the king
arrived, he had him and his chiefs put in chains ; the
conditions of their release being that his people should
835
336 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
deliver the king of Bumbireh, and two of his principal
chiefs into his hands.
Although the people of Bumbireh had treated his mes-
sage with contempt, the subjects of Iroba seized their
king and delivered him into the hands of Stanley. The
peril of their own king had stimulated them to effort,
and Stanley at once released him, while he loaded his
new royal captive heavily with chains. He also sent a
message to king Antari, on the mainland, to whom
Bumbireh was tributary, requesting him to redeem his
land from war. In reply, the latter sent his son and
two chiefs to him to make peace, who brought a quan-
tity of bananas, as a promise of what the king would do
in the future. Stanley in conversing with them detected
them in so many falsehoods, and thinking he saw treach-
ery in their faces, or perhaps it would be more in ac-
cordance with truth to say, that having got them in his
power, he thought it better to keep them as hostages
for the appearance of the two chiefs of Bumbireh, who
had not been brought with the king, and did so. In
the meantime, seven large canoes of Mtesa came up,
which were out on an expedition of the king's. The
chief commanding them told him that Magassa had re-
covered tKe oars captured at Bumbireh, and that on his
return and reporting Stanley dead, had been put in
chains by Mtesa, but subsequently released and dis-
patched in search of him. The latter persuaded this
chief, with his canoes to remain, and assist him in his
attack on Bumbireh if they refused his terms of peace.
Two days after, this chief sent some of his men to
Bumbireh for food, but they were not allowed to land.
On the contrary, they were attacked, and one man
killed and eight wounded. This gave Stanley another
strong reason for making war at once without further
negotiations, to which Mtesa's chief gladly consented.
Accordingly, next morning, he mustered two hundred
and eighty men with fifty muskets, and two hundred
spearmen, and placed them in eighteen canoes and set
out for Bumbireh, eight miles distant, and reached the
DRAWING OUT THE ENEMY. 337
island at two o'clock in the afternoon. The natives of
Bumbireh were evidently expecting trouble, for they felt
sure the attack on the friends of Stanley the day before
would be quickly avenged. As the latter, therefore,
drew near the shore, he saw lookouts on every eminence.
Looking through his field-glass, he soon discovered mes-
sengers running to a plantain grove which stood on a
low hill that commanded a clear, open view of a little
port on the southern point of the island, from which he
concluded that the main force of the enemy was assem-
bled there. He then called the canoes together, and
told them to follow him and steer just as he steered, and
by no means to attempt to land, as he did not mean that
one of Mtesa's men should be killed, or, indeed, any of his
own soldiers — he intended to punish Bumbireh without
any damage to himself. He then ordered the crew to
row straight for the port — the canoes following in close
order behind. He managed to keep out of sight of the
lookouts ; and skirting close to the land, at the end of a
little more than a mile, rounded a cape and tihot into
view of the enemy. They were gathered in such large
numbers that Stanley saw it would not do to attack
them in such a cover, and so steered for the opposite
side of the bay, as though he intended to land there,
where the sloping hill-sides were bare of everything but
low grass. The savages, perceiving this broke cover and
ran yelling toward the threatened point. This was ex-
actly what Stanley wanted, and he ordered the rowers
to pull slowly, so as to give them time to reach the spot
toward which he was moving. Very soon they were all
assembled on the naked hill-side, brandishing their wea-
pons fiercely in the air. Stanley kept slowly on till
within a hundred yards of the beach, when he anchored
broadside on the shore — the English and American flags
waving above him. The other seventeen canoes
followed his example. Seeing a group of about fifty
standing close togethei', he ordered a volley to be fired
into it. Fifty muskets and his own trusty rifle spoke
at once, and with such terrible effect that nearly the
22
338 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
whole number was killed or wounded. The natives,
astounded at this murderous work, now separated and
came down to the water's edge singly, and began to yell
and sling stones and shoot arrows. Stanley then ordered
the anchors up, and gave directions to move the canoes
within fifty yards of the shore, and each soldier to se-
lect his man and fire as though he were shooting birds.
The savages dropped right and left before this target
pratice, but the survivors stood their ground firmly, for
they knew if Stanley effected a landing he would burn
everything on the island. For an hour they endured
the deadly fire, and then, unable longer to stand it,
moved up the hill, but still not out of range, especially
of Stanley's unerring rifle. Though every now and
then a man would drop, they refused to move farther
away, for they knew that if they were not near enough
to make a dash the moment the boats touched the shore,
all would be lost. Another hour was therefore passed
in this long-range firing, when Stanley ordered the can-
oes to advance all together, as if about to make a sudden
landing. The savages, seeing this, rushed down the hill-
side like a torrent, and massed themselves by the hun-
dreds at the point toward which the canoes were moving,
some even entering the water with their spears poised
ready to strike. When they were packed densely to-
gether, Stanley ordered the bugle to sound a halt, and,
as the crews rested on their oars, directed a volley to be
fired into them, which mowed them down so terribly
that they turned and fled like deer over the hill. Stan-
ley's men had now got their blood up, and urged him to
let them land and make a complete end of this treach-
erous people, but he refused, saying that he came to
punish, not destroy.
They had fired in all about seven hundred cartridges,
and as the savages were completely exposed, and in the
afternoon, with the sun directly behind the boats, and
shining full in their faces, the mortality was great.
Over forty were left dead on the field, while the number
of the wounded could not be counted, though more than.
A GREAT VICTORY. 339
a hundred were seen to limp or be led away. It was a
great victory, and Stanley's dusky allies were in a state
of high excitement, and made the air ring with their
shouts and laughter as they bent to their paddles. It
was dark when they got back to the island, where they
were received with wild songs of triumph. Stanley was
a great hero to these untutored children of nature. The
next morning more canoes arrived from Uganda, and
Stanley prepared to depart. He had now thirty-two
canoes, all well loaded with men, which made quite an
imposing little fleet as they moved in order on the lake,
and constituted a strong force. They sailed close to
Bumbireh, and Stanley looked to see what had been the
effect of the severe thrashing he had given them the day
before. He found their audacity gone, and their proud,
insulting spirit completely quelled. There were no
shouts of defiance, no hostile demonstrations. Seeing a
hundred or more gathered in a group he fired a bullet
over their heads, which scattered them in every direc-
tion. The day before they had breasted bravely volley
after volley, but now the war spirit was thoroughly
cowed. In another place some natives came down to
the shore and begged them to go away and not hurt
them any more. This gave Stanley an opportunity to
preach them a sermon on treachery, and exhort them
hereafter to treat strangers, who came to them peaceably,
with kindness. The dead, in almost every hut, was,
however the most effectual sermon of the two.
They camped that evening on the main-land, in the
territory of King Kattawa, who treated them in a mag-
nificent style for a savage, to show his gratitude for the
punishment they had inflicted on Bumbireh, who had a
short time before killed one of his chiefs. They stayed
here a day, and then steered for the island of Muzina,
where he had last seen Magassa and his fleet. The people
were not friendly to him, but they had heard of the
terrible punishment he had inflicted on the Bumbireh,
and hastened to supply him with provisions. They
brought him five cattle, four goats, and a hundred
340 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bunches of bananas, besides honey, milk, and eggs.
The King of Ugoro, near by, also sent him word that
he had given his people orders to supply him with what-
ever food he wanted. Stanley replied that he wanted
no food, but if he would lend him ten canoes to carry
his people to Uganda, he would consider him as his
friend. They were promptly furnished. Mtesa's chief
urged him to attack the king, as he had murdered many
of Mtesa's people, but Stanley refused, saying he did
not come to make war on black people, he only wished
to defend his rights and avenge acts of treachery. Five
days after he landed at Duomo Uganda, halfway between
the Kagera and Katonga Rivers, and pitched his camp.
He selected this spot as the best place from which to
start for the Albert Nyanza, which he designed next to
explore. He wanted to see Mtesa, and get his advice as
to which was the best route to take, because between
these two lakes were several powerful tribes, who were
continually at war with the king of Uganda.
In summing up his losses during this journey of two
hundred and twenty miles by water, he found he had
lost six men drowned, five guns and one case of ammu-
nition, besides ten canoes wrecked, and three riding
asses dead, leaving him but one. He had been gone
fifty-six days, and though the distance was but two
hundred and twenty miles, a large portion of it had
been traversed three times, so that he had really traveled
by water over seven hundred and twenty miles. He
had brought scarcely any provisions — the expedition
subsisting on the corn he bought at the start with one
bale of cloth — axcept such as were given them. He
now resolved, after he had settled his camp, to visit
Mtesa again, and consult with him about the aid he
could give him to reach the Albert Nyanza. This lake
was the source of the White Nile, up which Baker was
forcing his way, the very year Stanley started on his
expedition. He hoped to launch steamers upon it, but
he failed even to reach it, though he saw its waters,
twenty miles distant. Between it and the Victoria
MTESA AT WAR. 341
Nyanza is an unknown region. The distance from one
to the other in a straight line is probably not two hun-
dred miles, though by any traveled route it is, of course,
much farther. Nothing is definitely known of its size
or shape. Colonel Mason made a partial exploration of
it last year, but it still remains a new field for some
future explorer, for Stanley failed to reach it if the map
of the former is correct. The Victoria Nyanza he com-
puted to contain twenty-one thousand five hundred
square miles, and to be nine thousand one hundred and
sixty-eight feet above the sea level. There is a large
lake almost directly west of the Nyanza called Muta
Nzienge, which Stanley conjectures may be connected
with the Albert Nyanza. The region around the latter
is wholly unknown, except that fierce cannibals occupy
its western shore. We say that Stanley did not reach
the Albert Nyanza at all, though if it and the Muta
Nzienge are one he did. He inserts in his journal that
he reached the shore of the lake, yet by his map he did
not. This discrepancy, owing probably to the fact that
he thought, at the time, the lake he saw was the Albert
Nyanza, and though Colonel Mason explored it partially
last year, and makes it an entirely distinct lake, he may
think so still. At all events, his map and journal should
agree, but they do not, which confuses things badly.
His route, as he has marked it down, does not go near it.
On the other hand, if the Albert and the Muta Nzienge
are one, it rivals in length that of the great Tanganika,
but we believe no one thinks it to be.
Stanley found Mtesa at war with the Wavuma, who
refused to pay their annual tribute. According to his
account this monarch had an army with him which,
with its camp followers, amounted to a quarter of a
million of souls. He remained with him several weeks
as the war dragged slowly along, and in the meantime,
translated, with the help of a young, educated Arab, a
part of the Bible for him, and apparently sent him forward
a great way toward Christianity. He at length, after
he had witnessed various naval battles that did not
342 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
seem to bring the war any nearer to a termination,
built for the king a huge naval structure, wholly in-
closed, which, when it moved against the brave islanders,
filled them with consternation, and they made peace.
At this point, Stanley makes a break in his journal
and devotes nearly a hundred pages to Uganda and its
king, Mtesa. He gives its traditions, mingled, doubt-
less, with much fable; a description of its land fruits,
customs of the people — in short, a thorough history, as
far as the natives know anything about it. This poss-
esses more or less interest, though the information it
conveys is of very little consequence, while it is destitute
of any incident connected with his journey.
It was now October, and he turned his attention
directly to the next scene of his labors — the exploration
of the Albert Nyanza. The great difficulty here was
to get through the warlike tribes that lay between the
lakes and around the latter, of which Abba Rega was
one of the most hostile chiefs. This king, it will be
remembered, was the great foe of Baker, whom the lat-
ter drove out of the country, after burning his capital,
and put Rionga in his place. He said then that this
treacherous king had gone to the shores of the Albert
Nyanza. By the way, Baker's statement and Stanley's
journal placed together, seem to make it certain that
the Muta Nzienge, which the latter reached, and the
Albert Nyanza are the same ; for, in the first place, it
will be remembered, Baker's last journey was to IJnyoro,
where he saw the Albert Nyanza. Now Stanley, it will
be seen hereafter, traverses this same district to reach
the lake he called Muta Nzienge. Again, Baker says
that Abba Rega fled to the Albert Nyanza, and yet
Stanley found him on Lake Muta Nzienge. If Stanley's
attention had been called to this, we hardly think he
would have made two lakes on his map, when, from
these corroborating statements, there could have been
but one. The fact that these separate statements, made
two years apart, are purely incidental, makes the fact
they go to prove more certain to be true. We have not
A NATIVE ARMY.
seen Colonel Mason's recent voyage on the lake, but it
seems impossible that Baker and Stanley should reach
through the same tribe two large and entirely separate
lakes.
Aware not only of the hostility, but power of some of
the tribes between Uganda and Lake Albert, Stanley
asked Mtesa for fifty or sixty thousand men — a mighty
army. With such a force he thought he could not only
overcome all opposition on the way, but hold the camp
he wished to establish, while he spent two months in
exploring the lake. But Mtesa told him two thousand
would be ample, which he would cheerfully furnish.
He said that he need not fear Abba Rega, for he would
not dare to lift a spear against his troops, for he had
seated him on the throne of Kameazi. Though Stanley
was not convinced of the truth of Mtesa's statements,
he would not urge him further and accepted the two
thousand soldiers, commanded by General Lamboori, as
an escort, with many expressions of thanks.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE EXPEDITION TO ALBERT NYANZA.
Force of the expedition — Its start — First March — Through hostile Un-
yoro — The encampment — Mount Gambaragara — Its summit occu-
pied by white people — Live on a rock in the middle of a lake — Their
origin — Other strange tribes — The march — Frightened people — The
lake reached without opposition — A miserable failure — The reason •
of it — Stanley's feelings — The return — Report to Mtesa — His wrath
— Liberal offers — Wonders of the country — A generous, peaceftil
king — Lake Windermere — Source of the Nile — Absurd theories —
The hot springs of Mtagata.
STANLEY'S expedition consisted of one hundred and
eighty men, which, with the troops Mtesa gave
him, made a total of two thousand two hundred and
ninety men. To this little army were attached some
five hundred women and children, making a sum total
344 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of two thousand eight hundred. With this force all
ordinary opposition could be overcome, and as it moved
off with the sound of drums and horns, and the waving
of the English and American flags, conspicuous amid
those of the negro army, it presented a very animated
appearance. But Stanley was destined to find out what
others have learned before him, that a small force under
one's own immediate command is better than a large
undisciplined one, that is subject to the orders of an-
other.
General Lamboozi had no heart in this expedition, and
soon showed it. But they moved off gayly over the
swelling pasture-lands of Uganda, striking north-west
toward the lake, which Stanley hoped to explore, as
he had the Victoria Nyanza. The march through
Uganda was a pleasant one, and they at length reached
the frontier of Unyoro and prepared for war.
On the 5th of January they entered Abba Kega's terri-
tory, whom, two years before, Baker had driven from his
throne, and who naturally felt peculiarly hostile to all
white men. But no resistance was offered — the people,
as if remembering the past, fleeing before them, leaving
their provisions and everything behind them, of which
the army made free use. Three days after they came to
the base of a mighty mountain, called Kabrogo, rising
five thousand five hundred feet into the air, presenting,
in its naked, rugged outline, a sublime appearance.
They encamped that night on a low ridge, in sight of the
Katonga River, flowing east in its course to the Victoria
Nyanza, bringing up many associations to Stanley's
mind — while to the west the Ruanga filled the night
air with its thunderous sound, as it tumbled over catar-
acts toward the Albert Nyanza. From an eminence
near by could be seen in the distance the colossal form
of Gambaragara Mountain looming up from the wilder-
ness— a second Mont Blanc', rising some three miles into
the cloudless heavens. Though under the equator, snow
is often seen on its summit. But what gives it peculiar
interest is, that on its cold and lonely top dwell a people
SINGULAR TRADITIONS. 345
of an entirely distinct race, being white, like Europeans.
The king of Uzigo once spoke to Stanley and Livingstone
of this singular people, and now the latter saw half a
dozen of them. Their hair, he says, is "kinky," and in-
clined to brown in color; their features regular; lips
thin, and noses well shaped. Altogether, they are a
handsome race — the women, many of them possessing
great beauty. Some of their descendants are scattered
through the tribes living near the base of the mountain,
but the main body occupy its lofty summit. The queen
of one of the islands in the Victoria Nyanza is a descen-
dant of them. The history of this singular people is
wrapped in mystery.
There is a tradition that the first king of Unyoro gave
them the land at its base, and the approach of a power-
ful enemy first drove them to the top for safety. They
have become so acclimated that they can stand the cold,
while the dwellers of the plain are compelled to flee
before it. Mtesa once dispatched his greatest general
with an army of a hundred thousand men to capture
them. They succeeded in making their way to a great
height, but finally had to retreat — the cold became so
intense.
The retreat of this pale-faced tribe is said to be inac-
cessible. The top is supposed to be the crater of an
extinct volcar o ; for on it there is a lake nearly a third
of mile long, from the centre of which rises a huge rock
to a great height. Around the top of this runs a rim of
rock, making a natural wall, in which are several villages,
where the principal " medicine man " and his people
reside.
This account, if true, does not touch the origin of this
peculiar race of people, nor in any way explain the fact
of their existence here in tropical Africa. Two men
belonging to this tribe joined Stanley's expedition in
this march to the Albert Lake, yet he seems to have
obtained no information from them of the history of
their tribe. Whether they had any traditions or not we
are not informed — we only know that Stanley found
346 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
them extremely uncommunicative. It is possible they
had nothing to tell, for a vast majority of the negro
tribes of Africa have no past; they care neither for the
past or future, so far as external life is concerned,
living only in the present. These two men occupied
a high position, for some cause, in the army under
Lamboozi, and were the only ones who were allowed
more than two milch cows on the route. Various stories
about these people were told Stanley, and it is difficult
to come at the truth. About the only thing that seems
established is that this white race exists, of whose
origin nothing definite has as yet been obtained. Stan-
ley says that he heard they were of Arab origin, but
there are plenty of Arabs in Africa — in fact, all the sol-
diers attached to the expedition were Arabs, and colonies
of them had long existed in Central Africa; but they
are not white men.
It seems impossible that Livingstone, years before,
should have heard of this singular people, and Stanley
seen specimens of them, if no such tribe really existed.
It seems almost equally strange that they should be able
for centuries to keep so isolated that their very home is a
myth. The truth is, that Africa is a land of fables and
traditions, that partake of the wonderful and often of the
miraculous. Mr. Stanley was told of other tribes of
white people living in a remote unknown region, pos-
sessing great ferocious dogs, and also of dwarfs of sing-
ular habits and customs. These traditions or reports, that
are invariably vague in their character, usually have
more or less foundation in truth. Mixed with the
wonderful, that always holds an important place in sav-
age literature, there will generally be found at least a grain
of truth ; and the traditions of white races among a peo-
ple who had never seen white men, could hardly exist if
no such tribes existed.
The diet of this strange race consists of milk and ba-
nanas. Stanley says the first specimen he saw of the
tribe was a young man, whom he at first took for a
young Arab from Cairo, who for some reason had wan-
WHITE AFRICANS. 347
dered off to Uganda, and taken up his residence with
King Mtesa. The two attached to his expedition would
easily have been mistaken for Greeks in white shirts.
Stanley, after seeing these white Africans, the stories
concerning whose existance he had regarded as one of the
fables of the ignorant, superstitious natives, says that he is
ready to believe there is a medium of truth in all the
strange stories that he has been accustomed to listen to as
he would to a fairy tale. Four years previous, while ex-
ploring the Tanganika with Livingstone, they both
smiled at the story told them of a white people living
north of Uzigo, but now he had seen them, and if it were
not that their hair resembles somewhat that of the negro
he should take them for Europeans. He heard after-
wards that the first king of Kisbakka, a country to the
south-west, was an Arab, whose scimiter is still preserved
by the natives, and infers that these people may be his
descendants. He also heard of a tribe that wore armor
and used a bi*eed of fierce and powerful dogs in battle.
From this point the expedition moved on toward the
Albert Nyanza, along the southern bank of the Rusango
River, a rapid, turbulent stream winding in and out
among the mountains, and rushing onward in fierce,
rapid and headlong cataracts to the peaceful bosom of
the lake. For ten hours they marched swiftly through
an uninhabited country and then emerged into a thickly
populated district. Their sudden appearance, with
drums beating and colors flying, filled the people, who
had no intimation of their coming,, with s;jch conster-
nation, that they took to the woods, leaving everything
behind them — even the porridge on the fire and great
pots of milk standing ready for the evening meal. Fields
and houses were alike deserted in a twinkling, and the
army marched in and took possession. Thus far they
had met with no opposition whatever, and the warlike
tribe Stanley had feared so much and had taken such a
large force with him to overcome, seemed to have no ex-
istence. In fact, the days had passed by monotonously,
for the most part the scenery was tame, and the march
348 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of the troops from day to day was without incident or
interest, and now, at this village, they were within a
few miles of the lake, to reach which was the sole object
of all this display of force. Instead of fighting their
way, they fount! themselves in undisputed possession of
a large and populous district, with not a soul to give
them any information.
We confess there is something about this journey
from the Victoria Nyanza to the Albert that we do not
understand. By the route on the map it must have
been nearly two hundred miles, and yet the expedition
started on January 5th, and on the evening of the 9th
was within three miles of the latter, which would make
the marching about fifty miles a day — an impossibility.
Now fifty miles a day for four days would be terrible
marching for veteran troops. Hence, we say, the map
or journal is wrong. If he took the route he has mark-
ed down and completed it in the time he says he did,
one instead of two parallels or longitude should indicate
the distance between the two lakes. In fact, this
whole expedition was such a miserable failure, that any-
where but in Africa it would be looked upon as a farce,
and shows how utterly futile it is to rely on the native
Africans in any great enterprise. The Arabs are bad
enough, but they are fidelity itself compared to these
black savages.
Here was an expedition numbering nearly three
thousand souls, organized to secure a safe march to a lake
not five days distant. It met no obstacles of any mo-
ment, reached the lake, and there, on the mere rumor
that hostilities were intended, practically broke up and
returned. Stanley had, with about three hundred men,
traversed an unknown country for months, fought battles,
and at the end of a thousand miles reached the lake he
was after, pitched his camp, and with a crew of eleven
men explored the lake in its entire circuit,and returned in
safety. Here, with a small army, after a four days'
march he reaches the Albert Nyanza, yet does nothing
but turn round and march back again. It would seem
THE ARMY DEMORALIZED. 349
at first sight, strange that if he could march a thousand
miles from the sea to the Victoria Nyanza and then ex-
plore it, he could not now with the same men explore
this lake without the aid of Lamboozi and his two
thousand or more soldiers. Doubtless he could but for
this very army. Its disaffection and declaration that
they were not strong enough to resist the force about to
be brought against them, created a panic among Stanley's
men. If two thousand fled it would be madness for one
hundred and eighty to stay. The simple truth is, the
more such men one has with him, unless he is the
supreme head and his will is law, even to life and death,
the worse he is off. Stanley, planning, controlling and
directing every movement is a power; Stanley under
the direction of a swaggering African negro general is
nobody.
Lamboozi did, next morning after their approach to
the lake, send out two hundred scouts to capture some
natives, by whom they could get a message to the king
of the district, saying that they had no hostile intentions,
and if permitted to encamp on the shores of the lake
for two months, would pay in beads, cloth and wire for
whatever provisions they consumed. Five were cap-
tured and sent to the king with this proposition, but he
did not deign an answer. On the llth they moved the
camp to within a mile of the lake, on a plateau that rose
a thousand feet above its surface. A place was selected
for a camp and men sent out to capture all the canoes
they could find. In three hours they returned with
only five, and those too small for their purpose. But
they brought back word that the whole country was
aroused, and that a large body of strange warriors had
arrived on the coast to aid the king in making war on
the new-comers.
General Lamboozi now became thoroughly alarmed, and
stubbornly refused to grant Stanley's request to move to
the edge of the lake and intrench. It seemed probable
that the natives meant to give battle, but with what
numbers or prospect of success, Lamboozi took no meas-
350 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ures to ascertain. Next day he resolved to march back.
Entreaties and threats were alike in vain, and there was
nothing left for Stanley to do but to march back with
him. He was greatly disappointed and thoroughly dis-
gusted, but there was no help for it, That Unyoro and
Abba Rega would be hostile Stanley knew before he
started, and on that account took so large a force with
him. Yet he says; after this miserable failure, that it
was a foolhardy attempt at the outset. Looking at it
calmly he pronounces it a great folly, redeemed from
absurdity only by "the success of having penetrated
through Unyoro and reached the Albert." It is difficult
to see wherein lies the greatness of this success; for,
according to his own account, it was one of the most
peaceful marches he ever performed, with hardly enough
incident in it to make it interesting. It matters little,
however ; all that can be said is, they marched up to the
lake and then marched back again.
On the morning of the 13th, they began their return
in order of battle — five hundred spearmen in front, five
hundred as a rear guard, and the expedition in the cen-
tre— but no enemy attacked them or attempted to do
anything but pick up some stragglers. The next day the
expedition formed the rear guard, and once some natives
rushed out of the woods to attack them, but were
quickly dispersed by a few shots.
This is all that happened to this army in terrible Un-
yoro, and presents a striking contrast to Baker's gallant
march through it with his little band, fighting every day
for nearly a week. Four days after, without any further
molestation, they re-entered Uganda, where Lamboozi
turned off to his home. Stanley had heard no news of
Gordon or of the steamers he was to place on the lake
according to the plan of Baker ; and though at first he
thought he would seek some other way to reach it and
make his explorations, he finally resolved to start for
Tanganika, which he would reach in four months, and
explore it, Hence, while Lamboozi turned eastward
toward Lake Victoria, he, with his little band, turned
A GENEROUS OFFER. 351
southward. He sent a letter, however, to Mtesa, in-
forming him of Lamboozi's cowardice and refusal to
build a camp at Lake Albert, and telling him also that
this redoubtable general had robbed him. He had
intrusted to his care three porter's loads of goods to
relieve his own carriers, and these he had appropriated
as his own.
When the letter reached the emperor he was thrown
into a towering passion, and immediately dispatched a
body of troops to seize the general, with orders to strip
him of his wives, slaves, cattle and everything he
possessed, and bring him bound to his presence. He
also sent letter after letter to Stanley, begging him to
return, and he would give him ninety thousand men,
with brave generals to command them, who would take
him to Lake Albert, and protect him there till he had
finished his explorations. Stanley was very much
moved by this generous offer and the anxiety of the
king to make amends for Lamboozi's poltroonery and
thieving conduct. The noble savage felt it keenly that
he, who valued so highly the esteem of Stanley, should
be disgraced in his sight, and it was hard for the latter
to refuse his urgent request to be allowed to redeem his
character and his pledge. But Stanley had had enough
of Waganda troops, and felt that whatever was accom-
plished hereafter must be by his well-trained, compact,
brave little band. He kept on his way, and never saw
Mtesa again.
He had been able to add considerable to the geography
of the country bordering on Lake Albert. Usongora, a
promontory running thirty miles into the lake south-
ward, he ascertained to be the great salt field, from
wlience all the surrounding countries obtain their salt.
From all he could hear, it was truly a land of wonders,
but he says the man who should attempt to explore it
would need a thousand muskets, for the natives cannot
be enticed into peace by cloth and beads. They care
for nothing but milk and goat-skins. "Among the
wonders credited to it," he says, " are a mountain emit-
352 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ting fire and stones, a salt lake of considerable extent,
several hills of rock-salt, a large plain encrusted thickly
with salt and alkali, a breed of very large dogs of extra-
ordinary ferocity, and a race of such long-legged natives,
that ordinary mortals regard them with surprise and
awe." They do not allow members of their tribe to
intermarry with strangers, and their food, like the
dwellers in the Himalaya Mountains, in India, consists
chiefly of milk. Mtesa once invaded their territory with
one hundred thousand men, to capture cows, of which
the natives have an immense number, and in watching
which consists their sole occupation. The army returned
with twenty thousand, but they were obtained at such
a fearful sacrifice of life that the raid will not be
repe -ted.
Stanley rested a few days after Lamboozi left him, be-
fore proceeding northward. He then continued his march
leisurely through the country, inquiring on the way the
character of the tribes westward toward the part of
Lake Albert which extended south from where he struck
it, but one and all were reported hostile to the passage
of any strangers through their territory.
Arriving on the Kagera River in Karagwe, he found
the King Rumanika a mild, pleasant-spoken man and
very friendly, but he told him that all the neighboring
tribes would not let him enter their lands. The latter,
a little suspicious of the motives that prompted this bad
report of the surrounding tribes, to test him, asked him
if he had any objections to his exploring his country.
He said no, and cheerfully promised to furnish him
guides and an escort, and his party should be supplied
with food, free of charge. Stanley, surprised at this
generosity, at once got ready to start. He first went
south to Lake Windermere, a small body of water so
named by Captain Speke, because of its fancied resem-
blance to the Lake of that name in England. The Lady
Alice was taken there, screwed together and launched
on the peaceful waters. Accompanied by six native
canoes he sailed round it and then entered Kagera
SOURCE OF THE VICTORIA NILE. 353
River, called by Speke the Kitangule. Suddenly it
flashed on Stanley's mind that he had discovered the
true parent of the Victoria Nile. It fed and drained
this little lake some nine miles long. Moreover, he found
that there was a depth of fifty-two feet of water and a
breadth of one hundred and fifty feet. He therefore
pushed up it three days and came to another lake, nine
miles long and six miles wide. Working up :hrough
the papyrus that covered the stream, he came to another
lake or pond, a mile and a half long. Ascending an
eminence he discovered that this whole portion of the
river was a lake — large tracts of which were covered
with papyrus or that vegetation which we have seen
Baker had to contend with in ascending the Nile. It
seemed solid ground, while in fact it was a large body
of water covered over, with here and there an opening,
making a separate lake, of which Windermere was the
largest. This apparently underground lake was some
eighty miles in length and fourteen in width.
Following the river as it flowed eastward into the
Victoria Nyanza, he found he entered another lake,
thirteen miles long and some eight miles broad. This
was, of course, the continuation of the lake, covered at
intervals with this tropical vegetation, which gave to it
the appearance of land. There were in all seventeen of
these lakes. This river now broadening as the formation
of the land causes it to expand, now narrowing till its
channel is forty feet deep, it at last tumbles over cata-
racts and rushes through rapids into the- Victoria
Nyanza. All this seems of little account, except, as
Stanley says, he has found in it the true source of the
Victoria Nile.
The great and persistent efforts to find out the source
of the Nile have led explorers to push their theories to
an absurd extent. Because Herodotus made the Nile to
rise in some large springs, they seem to think they must
find something back and beyond a great lake as its
source. Now, when a river flows right on through one
lake after another, making lakes as the formation of the
23
354) EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ground allows, it of course maintains its integrity and
oneness.
In this case there is but one main stream ; and as long
as the lakes are the mere spreading out of that stream
on low, flat lands, it must remain the same. But when
you come to great reservoirs like the Albert and Victoria
Nyanza and the Tanganika — into which a hundred
streams, and perhaps twice that number of springs, flow
— to go beyond such reservoirs to find the head of the
stream is bringing geography down to a fine point.
The outlet is plain — you have traced the river up till
you see it roaring from its great feeder. This is very
satisfactory, and should end all research after the source
of the stream. But to insist on taking measurements of
a dozen different rivers that flow into a lake a thousand
miles in circumference, to find which is a mile longest
or ten feet deepest, and thus determine the source of
the outlet, is preposterous. A lake covering twenty-two
thousand square miles, fed by a hundred rivers, is a
reservoir of itself, and not an expansion of any one
river. One might as well try to prove which is the
great source or feeder of the Atlantic Ocean — the
Amazon, Mississippi or Congo.
Thus we find Stanley, when he struck the Shimeeyu
in Speke Gulf, declaring he had found the extreme
southern source of the Nile; and now, when exploring
another river on another side of the lake of larger
volume, he changes his mind and thinks he has made a
great discovery in ascertaining at last the true source of
the river. He found it over fifty feet deep, which
showed what a volume of water it poured into the
Victoria Nyanza. Descending it again, he entered an-
other lake some thirteen miles long by eight wide.
Exploring this, he was driven back by the natives when
he attempted to land, who hailed him with shrill shouts
and wild war-cries. The Kagera, through its entire
length, maintains almost the' same depth and volume.
Returning to his generous host, he asked for guides to
take him to the hot springs of Mtagata, the healing pro-
HOT SPEINGS OF MTAGATA. 355
perties of which he had heard of far and wide from the
natives. These were cheerfully given, and after a march
of two days he reached them. Here he was met by an
astonishing growth of vegation. Plants of an almost
infinite variety covered the ground, growing so thick
and crowding each other so closely, that they became a
matted mass — the smaller ones stifled by the larger —
and out of which trees shot up an arrow's-night into
the air, with " globes of radiant green foliage upon their
stem-like crowns." He found a crowd of diseased per-
sons here, trying the effect of the water. Naked men
and women were lying promiscuously around in the
steaming water, half-asleep and half-cooked, for the
water showed a temperature of one hundred and twenty-
nine degrees. The springs were, however, of different
temperature. The hottest one issued from the base of
a rocky hill, while four others, twenty degrees cooler,
came bubbling up out of black mud, and were the
favorites with the invalids. Stanley camped here three
days, and bathed in the water and drank it, but could
perceive no effect whatever on his system. Returning
to his friend Rumaniki, he prepared to start on his
journey south to Lake Tanganika, and finish its explor-
ations.
Having discovered that the Kagera River formed a lake
eighty miles long, and was a powerful stream a long dis-
tance from its mouth, he resolved, as it flowed from the
south, to follow it up and try to find its source. A broad
wilderness lay before him, the extent of which he did
not accurately know, and he packed ten days' provisions
on the shoulders of each man of the expedition, and bid-
ding the [soft- voiced pagan king by whom he had been
treated so kindly a warm good-bye, he entered the forest
and kept along the right bank of the stream. This
was the 27th of March, and for six days he marched
through an uninhabited wilderness, with nothing to
break the monotony of the journey. At the end of that
time he came to the borders of Karagwe and to the point
where the Akanyaru River entered the Kagera. He
356 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
dared not explore this river, for the natives that inhabit
both its banks are wild and fierce, having a deadly ha-
tred of all strangers. They are like the long-legged race
of Bumbiieh, and he did not care to come in collision
with them. They possess many cattle, and if one sick-
ens or dies, they do not attribute it to accident, but be-
lieve it has been bewitched, and search the country
through to find the stranger who has done it, and if he
is found, he dies.
All the natives of the region are passionately fond of
their cows, and will part with anything sooner than
milk. Stanley says that his friend Rumaniki, with all
his generosity, never offered him a teaspoonful of milk,
and if he had given him a can of it he believes his peo-
ple would have torn him limb from limb. He thinks
that half of their hostility arises from the fear of the
evil effect that the presence of strangers will have on
their cattle. Hence they keep a strict quarantine on
their frontiers. It is not strange that they should cher-
ish them carefully, for they are their sole means of sub-
sistence.
This long journey through various tribes is singularly
barren of incident. He lost his last dog, Bull, on the
route, who had bravely held out in all its long wander-
ings, but at last gave in arid laid down and died, with
his eyes fixed on the retiring expedition. He also met
the redoubtable Mirambo, and found him not the blood-
thirsty monster he had been represented to be, but a
polite, pleasant-mannered gentleman, and generous to a
fault. They made blood brotherhood together, and be-
came fast friends. At length, in the latter part of May,
he reached Ujiji, where he formerly found Livingstone.
The following extract from a private letter of Stanley's,
written to a friend while at Lake Victoria, gives a do-
mestic picture that is quite charming. He says that
"Kagehyi is a straggling village of cane huts, twenty or
thirty in number, which are built somewhat in the form
of a circle, hedged around by a fence of thorns twisted
between upright stakes. Sketch such a village in your
MY QUARTERS. 357
imagination, and let the centre of it be dotted here and
there with the forms of kidlings who prank it with the
vivacity of kidlings under a hot, glowing sun. Let a
couple of warriors and a few round-bellied children be
seen among them, and near a tall hut which is a chiefs
plant a taller tree, under whose shade sit a few elders in
council with their chief ; so much for the village. Now
outside the village, yet touching the fence, begin to draw
the form of a square camp, about fifty yards square, each
side flanked with low, square huts, under the eaves of
which, plant as many figures of men as you please, for
we have many, and you have the camp of the explor-
ing expedition, commanded by your friend and humble
servant. From the centre of the camp you may see
Lake Victoria, or that portion of it I have called Speke
Gulf, and twenty-five miles distant you may see table-
topped Magita, the large island of Ukerewe, and toward
the north-west a clear horizon, with nothing between
water and sky to mar its level. The surface of the lake
which approaches to within a few yards of the camp is
much ruffled just at present with a north-west breeze,
and though the sun is glowing hot, under the shade it
is agreeable enough, so that nobody perspires or is
troubled with the heat. You must understand there is
a vast difference between New York and Central Afri-
can heat. Yours is a sweltering heat, begetting languor
and thirst — ours is a dry heat, permitting activity and
action without thirst or perspiration. If we exposed
ourselves to the sun, we should feel quite as though we
were being baked. Come with me to my lodgings, now.
I lodge in a hut a little inferior in size to the chief's. In
it is stored the luggage of the expedition, which fills
one-half. It is about six tons in weight, and consists of
cloth, beads, wire, shells, ammunition, powder, barrels,
portmanteaus, iron trunks, photographic apparatus, sci-
entific instruments, pontoons, sections of boat, etc., etc.
The other half of the hut is my sleeping, dining and
hall-room. It is dark as pitch within, for light cannot
penetrate the mud with which the wood-work is lib-
358 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OP AFRICA.
erally daubed. The floor is of dried mud, thickly covered
with dust, which breeds fleas and other vermin to be a
plague to me and my poor dogs.
" I have four youthful Mercuries, of ebon color, attend-
ing me, who, on the march, carry my personal weapons
of defense. I do not need so many persons to wait on
me, but such is their pleasure. They find their reward
in the liberal leavings of the table. If I have a goat
killed for European men, half of it suffices for two days
for us. When it becomes slightly tainted, my Mercuries
will beg for it, and devour it at a single sitting. Just
outside of the door of my hut are about two dozen of
my men sitting, squatted in a circle and stringing beads.
A necklace of beads is each man's daily sum wherewith
to buy food. I have now a little over one hundred and
sixty men. Imagine one hundred and sixty necklaces
given each day for the last three months — in the aggre-
gate the sum amounts to fourteen thousand necklaces —
in a year to fifty-eight thousand four hundred. A neck-
lace of ordinary beads is cheap enough in the States,
but the expense of carriage makes a necklace here equal
to about twenty-five cents in value. For a necklace I
can buy a chicken, or a peck of sweet potatoes, or half
a peck of grain.
" I left the coast with about forty thousand yards of
cloth, which, in the States, would be worth about twelve
and a-half cents a yard, or altogether about five thou-
sand dollars — the expense of portage, as far as this lake,
makes each yard worth about fifty cents. Two yards
of cloth will purchase a goat or sheep ; thirty will pur-
chase an ox; fifteen yards are enough to purchase ra-
tions for the entire caravan."
Why these naked savages put such a high value on
cloth, none of these African explorers inform us. We
can understand why they should like beads, brass wire,
shells, and trinkets of all sorts. They certainly use
very little cloth on their persons.
He adds : " These are a few of the particulars of our
domestic affairs. The expedition is divided into eight
COMPELLED TO KILL. 359
squads, of twenty men each, with an experienced man
over each squad. They are all armed with Snider's per-
cussion-lock muskets. A dozen or so of the most faith-
ful have a brace of revolvers in addition to their other
arms."
He then goes on to speak of the battles he has fought,
and it is but just to him to give his feelings as he
describes them in confidential private correspondence,
on being compelled to kill the savages. He says : "As
God is my judge, I would prefer paying tribute, and
making these savages friends rather than enemies. But
some of these people are cursed with such delirious
ferocity that we are compelled to defend ourselves.
They attack in such numbers and so sudden, that our
repeating rifles and Sniders have to be handled with
such nervous rapidity as will force them back before we
are forced to death; for if we allow them to come within
forty yards, their spears are as fatal as bullets; their
spears make fearful wounds, while their contemptible-
looking arrows ara as deadly weapons. . . . Since
I left Zanzibar, I have travelled seven hundred and
twenty miles by land and a thousand miles by water.
This is a good six months' work."
CHAPTER XXXI.
Back to Ujiji — Pleasant Associations — The Mystery of Tanganika — No
Outlet— -Cameron's Expedition — Thinks he Discovers the Outlet —
Doubts of Stanley — The Lake constantly Bising — Stanley starts to
examine for himself — Bags two Zehras — A whole village Massacred
— Reaches Cameron's Outlet — Explores it thoroughly — Declares
Cameron to be Mistaken — The Future Outlet — Livingstone's In-
fluence— The Small-pox in Camp — Desertion of his Men — Prompt
Measures — Crosses the Tanganika — More Desertions — People of
Manyema — Singular Custom.
IT was with strange feelings that Stanley caught from
the last ridge the sparkling waters of Tanganika.
Sweet associations were awakened at the sight, as he
360 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
remembered with what a thrilling heart he first saw it
gleam in the landscape. Then it was the end of a long,
wasting and perilous journey — the goal of his ambition,
the realization of his fondest hopes ; for on its shores he
believed the object for which he had toiled so long was
resting. No welcomer sight ever dawned on mortal
eye than its waters as they spread away on the horizon ;
and though he should see it a hundred times, it will
never appear to him like any other sheet of water. He
has formed for it an attachment that will last for ever ;
and whenever in imagination it rises before him, it will
appear like the face of a friend.
As he now descended to Ujiji, it was with sensations
as though he were once more entering civilized life, for
there was something almost homelike about this Arab
colony. People dressed in civilized garments were
moving about the streets, cattle were coming down to
the lake to drink, and domestic animals scattered here
and there made quite a domestic scene.
At first sight, it seems strange that Stanley should
have selected this lake as the next scene of his explor-
ations. He had already, with Livingstone, explored
thoroughly the upper half of it, and passed part way
down the western side ; Livingstone had been at the
foot of it, and to crown all, he had heard, before leaving
Zanzibar, that Cameron had explored the entire southern
portion, so that really there was nothing for him to do,
but follow a path which had been already trodden. To
employ an expedition fitted out at so great a cost, and
spend so much valuable time in going over old ground,
seems an utter waste of both time and labor, especially
when such vast unexplored fields spread all around him.
But there was a mystery about Tanganika, that we
suspect Stanley did not believe Cameron had solved,
and which he meant to clear up. Here was a lake over
three hundred miles long, with perhaps a hundred
streams, great and small, running into it, and yet with
no outlet, unless Cameron had found it, which he thinks
he did. To find this was the chief object of the expedi-
LUKUGA CREEK. 361
tion Stanley and Livingstone made together to the north
end of the lake. They had heard that the Rusizi River
at that extremity was the outlet, but they found it in-
stead a tributary. In fact, they proved conclusively
that there was no outlet at the northern end, and it
therefore must be at the southern, and if so, the com-
mencement of a river that would become a mighty stream
before it reached the ocean. But no such stream was
known to exist. The Caspian Sea has large and rapid
rivers flowing into it, but no outlet, yet it never fills
up. Evaporation, it is supposed, accounts for this. But
the Caspian is salt, while the Tanganika is fresh water,
and such a large body of fresh water as this was never
known to exist without an outlet, and if it could be
that evaporation was so great as to equal all the water
that runs into it, it would not remain so fresh as it is.
We said, when sketching the route of Cameron, that we
omitted his explorations on this lake because it would
be better to take them with Stanley's, as the main
object of both was the same. We will first let Cameron
state his own case. He started with two canoes and
thirty-seven men, and sailed down the eastern shore of
the lake, now ravished with the surpassing beauty of
the scene composed of lake and sky, and smiling shores,
and again awed by beetling cliffs — one evening camping
on the green banks and watching the sun go down be-
hind the purple peaks, and another drenched with rain,
and startled by the vivid lightning and awful thunder
crashes of a tropical storm, yet meeting with no incident
of any peculiar interest to the reader. The natives were
friendly, and he describes the different villages and
customs of the people and their superstitions, which do
not vary materially from other native tribes. At last,
on the 3d of May, entered the Lukuga Creek, which a
chief told him was the outlet of the lake. He says that
the entrance was more than a mile wide, " but closed
up by a grass sand-bank, with the exception of a channel
three or four hundred yards wide. Across this there is
a rill where the surf breaks heavily although there was
362 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
more than a fathom of water at its most shallow part."
The next day he went down it four or five miles, until
navigation was rendered impossible, owing to the masses
of floating vegetation. Here the depth was eighteen
feet, and breadth six hundred yards, and the current a
knot and a half an hour. The chief who accompanied
him said that it emptied into the Lualaba. He tried
in vain to hire men to cut a passage through the vege-
tation that he might explore the river. This was all
the knowledge he obtained by actual observation, the
rest of his information being obtained from the natives.
Now, we must say, that this is a sorry exhibit for the
outlet to a lake almost twice as long as Lake Ontario.
That such an imraence body of water should trickle
away at this rate seems extraordinary. Stanley at Ujiji
started on foot inquiries respecting this stream, and
found Cameron's guide, who stoutly denied that the
river flowed south from the lake. Another veteran
guide corroborated this statement, while many others
declared that before Cameron came, they had never heard
of an outflowing river.
These contradictory statements, together with the uni-
versal testimony that the lake was continually rising,
the truth of which he could not doubt, as he saw palm-
trees standing in the market-place when he was there
in 1871, now one hundred feet out in the lake — made
him resolve to explore this stream himself. He started
on the llth of June, and three days after landed to take
a hunt, and soon came upon a herd of zebras, two of
which he bagged, and thus secured a supply of meat.
On the 19th, on approaching a large village, they were
astonished to see no people on the shore. Landing,
they were still more astonished at the death-like silence
that reigned around, and advancing cautiously came up-
on corpses of men and women transfixed with spears or
with their heads cut oft*. Entering into the village they
found that there had been a wholesale massacre. A des-
cent had been made upon the place, but by whom no one
was left to tell, and its entire population put to death.
THEORY OF THE MYSTERY.
As Stanley proceeded, he found other evidences of the
steady rise of the lake. He continued on his course,
finding the same varied scenery that Cameron did, with
nothing of peculiar interest occurring, except to the
travelers themselves, and at length came to the Lukuga
Creek. He found various traditions and accounts here
— one native said the water flowed both ways. The spot
on which Cameron encamped, some two years before, was
covered with water, another evidence that the lake was
rising. He very sensibly says that the " rill," which
Cameron states runs directly across the channel, is con-
clusive evidence that the Lukuga runs into, instead of
out of the lake, for it must be formed by the meeting of
the inflowing current and the waves. An outpouring
stream driven onward by waves would jnake a deep
channel, not a dam of sand. He tried several experi-
ments, by which he proved, to his entire satisfaction,
that the stream flowed in the lake instead of being its
outlet. Having settled this question he set about find-
ing the other river, which the natives declared flowed
out westward. After traveling some distance inland, he
did find a place where the water flowed west ; it was,
however, a mere trickling stream. His account of all
his explorations here, and the traditions of the natives
and description of the formation of the country and prob-
able geological changes is quite lengthy, but possesses
but little interest to the general reader.
The result of it all, however, is, he believes, that the
Lukuga was formerly a tributary of the lake, the bed of
which at some former time was lifted up to a higher level,
that the whole stretch of land here has been sunk lower
by some violent convulsion -of nature, taking the Lukuga
with it, and thus making a sort of dam of the land at
the foot, which accounts for the steady rise of the river
year by year ; and that in three years the lake will rise
above it, and, gathering force, will tear like a resistless
torrent through all this mud and vegetation, and, roar-
ing on as the Nile does where it leaves the Victoria
Nyanza, sweep . through the country till it pours its
364 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
accumulated waters into the Lualaba, and thus swell
the Congo into a still larger Amazon of Africa. This
seems to be the only plausible solution of the mystery
attached to Tanganika. The only objection to it is, no
such convulsion or change of the bed of the Tanganika
seems to have occurred during this generation, and what
has become then, for at least seventy years, of all the
waters these hundred rivers have been pouring into the
lake ? We should like the estimate of some engineer of
how many feet that lake would rise in fifty years, with
its tributaries pouring incessantly such a flood of water
into it. We are afraid the figures would hardly har-
monize with this slow rise of the lake. It may be that
there is a gradual filtering of the water through the ooze
at the foot, which will account for the slow filling up of
the great basin — a leakage that arrests the process of
accumulation. But if Stanley's explorations and state-
ments can be relied upon, the mystery will soon solve
itself and men will not have to hunt for an outlet long.
He makes its length three hundred and twenty-nine
geographical miles, and its average breadth twenty-eight
miles.
The wonderful influence of Livingstone over all Afri-
can explorers, is nowhere more visible than here at
Ujiji, on both Cameron and Stanley. Both had set out
with one object — to try to complete the work that the
great and good man's death had left unfinished. His
feet had pressed the shores of almost every lake either
had seen, as well as those of others which they had not
seen. The man had seemed to be drawn on westward
until he reached Nyangwe, where dimly arose before
him the Atlantic Ocean — into which the waters flowing
past his camp might enter, and did enter if they were
not the Nile. Discouraged, deserted and driven back,
he could not embark on the Lualaba and float down
with its current, till he unveiled the mystery that
wrapped it. Cameron became filled with the same de-
sire, but disappointed, though not driven back, he had
pressed on to the ocean, into which he had no doubt the
SMALL-POX BREAKS OUT. 365
river emptied, but by another route. And now last
comes Stanley, and instead of finishing Livingstone's
work around the lakes, he, too, is drawn forward to the
same point. It seemed to be the stopping-place, looking-
ofF-place of explorations in Africa; and although he
knew that Cameron had not returned like Livingstone,
and hence might have discovered all that was to be dis-
covered, and make his further explorations in that
direction useless, still he felt he must go on and find out
for himself. True, there was an interesting district be-
tween Ujiji and the Lualaba.
There was the beautiful Manyema region, about which
Livingstone had talked to him enthusiastically, with its
new style of architecture, and beautiful women and
simple-minded people. But those did not form the at-
traction. He must stand on the spot where Livingstone
stood, and look off with his yearning desire and see if
he could not do what this good man was willing to risk
all to accomplish.
At all events, he must move somewhere at once, and
westward seemed the most natural direction to take, for
if he stayed in Ujiji much longer the expedition would
break up. He found on his return that the small-pox
had broken out in camp, filling the Arabs with dismay.
He had taken precaution, on starting, to vaccinate, as
he supposed, every member of his party, and hence felt
safe from this scourge of Africa. He did not lose a single
man with it on his long journey from the sea to the
Victoria Nyanza. But here it had broken out in Ujiji
with such fury that a pall was spread over the place
and invaded his camp, so that in a few days eight of his
men died.
This created a panic, and they began to desert in such
numbers that he would soon be left alone. Thirty-eight
were missing, which made quite a perceptible loss in a
force of only one hundred and seventy men. The
chiefs of the expedition were thoroughly frightened, but
told him that the desertions would increase if he moved
westward, for the men were as much afraid of the canni-
366 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bals there as of the small-pox in their midst. They
were told horrible stories of these cannibals till their
teeth chattered with fear. Besides there were hobgob-
lins— monsters of every kind in the land beyond the
Tanganika. Stanley saw, therefore that prompt meas-
ures must be taken, and he at once clapped thirty-two
of the discontented in irons, drove them into canoes and
sent them off to Ukurenga. He with the rest followed
after by land to Msehazy Creek, where the crossing of
the lake was to be effected. Reaching the other side
he proceeded to Uguha, where, on mustering his force,
he found but one hundred and twenty-seven, out
of one hundred and seventy, showing that one-
third had disappeared. Among the last to go,
and the last Stanley expected would leave him, was
young Kalulu, whom he had taken home to the United
States with him on his return from his first expedition.
He had him placed in school in England for eighteen
months, and he had seemed devoted to Stanley. A
gloom hung over the camp, and the desertion was be-
coming too contagious, and if such men as Kalulu could
not be trusted, he knew of no one that could be, and
with his usual promptness he determined to stop it. He
therefore sent back Pocoke and a faithful chief with a
squad of men to capture them.
Paddling back to Ujiji, they one night came upon six,
who, after a stout fight, were secured and brought over
to camp. Afterward young Kalulu was found on an
island and brought in. This desertion is a chronic
disease with the Arabs. Their superstitious fears are
easily aroused, and they are easily tempted to break
their contract and leave the man to whom they have
hired themselves in the lurch. It was a sudden fear
thai; caused the Johanna men to desert Livingstone, and
then, to cover up their dastardly conduct, invent a battle,
in which they said he was killed.
Stanley's march to Manyema was noticeable only for
the curious customs or habits of the people, and on the
5th of October he reached the frontier of this wonder-
PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.
367
ful country. Livingstone had halted here several
months, and this was an inducement to Stanley to stop
for a few days. The weapons of the natives were excel-
lent, and there was one peculiar custom that attracted
his particular attention — the men wore lumps of vari-
ous forms of mud and patches of mud on their beards,
hair and head, while the women wove their hair into
head-dresses, resembling bonnets, leaving the back hair
to wave in ringlets over their shoulders. He, as well as
Cameron, was struck with their villages, which had one
or more broad streets running through them, one hun-
dred to one hundred and fifty feet wide, alongside of
which are ranged the square huts, with well-beaten,
cleanly-kept clay floors, to which they cheerfully invite
strangers.
68 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
On the 12th he reached a village on the Luma, which
he had been following, where both Livingstone and
Cameron left it and turned directly west, to Nyangwe.
He, however, determined to follow it till it reached the
Lualaba, and then proceed by this stream to the same
place. He found the natives kind but timid, with many
curious traditions and customs. The expedition at
length reached the Lualaba, moving majestically through
the forest and making rapid marches, arrived next day
at Tubunda.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Livingstone at Nyangwe — Remembrance of him by the natives — " The
Good Man " — His troubles here awaken Stanley's pity — A magnifi-
cent country — Glowing description of it — Ruined by slavery — The
slave trade — Its character — Ebony skeletons — Horrible sights — The
traders — Mode of capture — Faithlessness of the Prince of Zanzibar
— Extracts from Stanley's journal — A depopulated country — The
way to stop the traffic.
IN the article on Cameron we said that Nyangwe was
the farthest point west in Africa ever reached by a
white man coming in from the east. It is about three
hundred and fifty miles from Ujiji, or a little over the
distance^across New York State, but the journey is not
made in one day — Stanley was forty days in accom-
plishing it. Here he found that Livingstone, the first
white man ever seen there, must have remained
from six to twelve months. The women he speaks
of he says must be those of the district Manyema.
He found that Livingstone had made a profound
impression .on the natives of this region. "Did
you know him ?" asked an old chief eagerly. Stanley
replying in the affirmative, he turned to his sons and
brothers and said : " He knew the good white man.
Ah, we shall hear all about him." Then turning to
Stanley, he said : " Was he not a very good man ?"
KEMEMBRANCE OF LIVINGSTONE. 371
" Yes," replied the latter, " he was good, my friend ; far
better than any white man or Arab you will ever see
again." " Ah," said the old negro, " you speak tru3 ; he
was so gentle and patient, and told us such pleasant
stories of the wonderful land of the white people — the
aged white man was a good man indeed."
Every now and then it leaks out what a strong im-
pression Livingstone made on Stanley, and he here says:
" What has struck me while tracing Livingstone to his
utmost researches — this Arab depot of Nyaugwe — re-
vived all my grief and pity for him, even more so than
his own relation of sorrowful and heavy things, is, that
he does not seem to be aware that he was sacrificing
himself unnecessarily, nor warned of the havoc of age,
and that his old power had left him. With the weight
of years pressing upon him, the shortest march weary-
ing him, compelling him to halt many days to recover
his strength, and frequent attacks of illness prostrating
him, with neither men nor means to escort him and en-
able him to make practical progress, Livingstone was at
last like a blind and infirm man moving aimlessly about.
He was his own worst taskmaster."
Whether Stanley's views of the mental condition of
Livingstone — growing out of his sickness and want of
money while in Nyangwe — are correct or not, one thing
is true : that after the great explorer had apparently
reached the very point when the problem was to be
solved as to where the mysterious Lualaba flowed, he
waited here till he found a caravan going east, and then
returned to Ujiji " a sorely tried and disappointed man."
Standing on the last point which this intrepid explorer
reached, Stanley is reminded of his own earnest efforts
to induce him to return home and recruit, to which the
invariable answer was : " No, no, no : to be knighted, as
you say, by the queen, . welcomed by thousand of ad-
mirers, yes — but impossible, must not, can not, will not
be."
Stanley, on this outmost verge of exploration, remembers
the words of Livingstone when speaking of the beauties of
24
372 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the region lying west of the Goma Mountains, and says,
" It is a most remarkable region; more remarkable than
anything I have seen in Africa. Its woods, or forest,
or jungles, or brush — I do not know by what particular
term to designate the crowded, tall, straight trees, rising
from an impenetrable mass of brush, creepers, thorns,
gums, palm, ferns of all sorts, canes and grass — are
sublime, even terrible. Indeed nature is remarkably or
savagely beautiful. From every point the view is en-
chanting— the outlines eternally varying, yet always
beautiful, till the whole panorama seems like a chang-
ing vision. " Over all, nature has flung a robe of vary-
ing green, the hills and ridges are blooming, the valleys
and basins exhale perfume, the rocks wear garlands of
creepers, the stems of the trees are clothed with moss, a
thousand streamlets of cold, pure water stray, now
languid, now quick toward the north and south and
west. The whole makes a pleasing, charming illustra-
tion of the bounteousness and wild beauty of tropical
nature. But, alas ! all this is seen at a distance ; when
you come to travel through this world of beauty, the
illusion vanishes — the green grass becomes as difficult
to penetrate as an undergrowth, and that lovely sweep
of shrubbery a mass of thorns, the gently rolling ridge an
inaccessible crag, and the green mosses and vegetation
in the low grounds that look so enchanting, impenetra-
ble forests belts."
He once penetrated into one of these great forests and
was so overwhelmed by the majesty and solemn stillness
of the scene, that he forgot where he was, and his imagi-
nation went back to the primeval days when that great,
still forest was sown, till the silent trees seemed monu-
ments of past history. But still, this district of Man-
yema, he does not think so interesting as that of
Uregga. In speaking of the Lualaba, after describing the
various ways in which it is spelled and pronounced, he
says if he could have his own way he would call it
-"Livingstone River, or Livingstone's Lualaba," to com-
memorate his discovery of it and his heroic struggles
FULAH CHIEF.
Q
X
W
Q
THE HORRORS OF THE SLAVE TRADE. 375
against adversity to explore it. The letter in which he
thus speaks of this region is dated November 1st, 1876.
In three days he says he is going to explore this mys-
terious river to the utmost of his power. Two days pre-
vious to this letter, he wrote a long one on the horrors
of the slave trade that casts a pall as black as midnight
over all this tropical beauty. He says, that from Un-
yanyembe to Ujiji one sees horrors enough, but in this
region they are multiplied tenfold. The traffic in slaves
is so profitable and keeps up such a brisk trade with
Zanzibar and the interior of Africa, that the native
chiefs enter into it on the grandest scale, or rather it is
more acurate to say banditti under the leadership of so-
called chiefs. The Fulah tribe are very extensively en-
gaged in the slave trade.
Raids are made on small independent villages, the
adults slain and hung up to terrify other villages into
meek acquiescence to their demands, and young men,
young women and children are marched off to Ujiji,
from whence they are taken to Zanzibar, becoming, by
their cruel treatment on the route, living skeletons, be-
fore they reach their destination. Gangs, from one
hundred to eight hundred, of naked, half-starved crea-
tures, Stanley met in his travels, and he wondered that
the civilised world will let insignificant Zanzibar become
the mart of such an accursed, cruel traflfic.
There are regular hunting-grounds for slaves. When
the business is dull, the inhabitants are left to grow and
thrive, just like game out of season in a gentleman's
park; but when the business begins to look up, the hunt
begins and the smiling villages become arid wastes. The
country, long before he reached Nyangwe, was a wilder-
ness, where a few years before dwelt a happy popula-
tion. Stanley gives extracts from his diary, showing
up the horrors of this system, that makes the heart
sicken as it thinks of what is daily transpiring in the
heart of this unknown land.
Livingstone saw enough when he was here to awaken
his deepest indignation, but since that time the Arabs
376 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
have pushed farther inland, and swept, with the besom
of destruction, districts that, in his time, had been but
slightly touched.
The trade in ivory is but another name for trade in
human beings, and the only real commerce this vast
fruitful region has with Zanzibar is through its captured
inhabitants, while the slain equal the number of those
sent into captivity. But, while Mr. Stanley feels keen-
ly the disgrace to humanity of this accursed traffic, he
evidently does not see so clearly the way to put a stop
to it. Opposed to filibustering of all kinds, and the in-
terference of strong powers to coerce weak ones, on the
ground of humanity or Christianity, because it opens
the door too wide to every kind of aggression ; in fact,
makes it only necessary to use some philanthropic catch-
word to make the annexation of any feeble territory
right; yet he evidently thinks there is some limit to
the Monroe doctrine of non-interference in the affairs of
other nations, by the following extract from one of his
letters, in which, after discussing the whole matter care-
fully, he says he writes it " hoping he may cause many
to reflect upon the fact that there exists one little State
on this globe, which is about equal in extent to one
English county, with the sole privilege of enriching it-
self by wholesale murder, and piracy, and commerce in
human beings, and that a traffic forbidden in all other
nations should be permitted, furtively monopolized by
the little island of Zanzibar, and by such insignificant
people as the subjects of Prince Burghosh." By the
influence of European philanthropists the ruler of Zanzi-
bar has recently turned round, and is now one of the
most active opponents of the slave-trade. Mr. Stanley
is entirely opposed to filibustering and encroachments
of strong powers on feeble ones, under the thousand and
one false pretences advanced in support of unrighteous
conquests, yet he evidently thinks little Zanzibar should
be wiped out, or cease to be the source and centre of this
cruel traffic in human beings. One has to travel, he says,
in the heart of Africa to see all the horrors of this traffic.
SCENES IN THE SLAVE MARKET. 377
The buying and selling of a few slaves on the coast
gives no idea of its horrors. At Unyambembe some-
times a sad sight is seen. At Uganda the trade begins
to assume a wholesale character, yet it wears here a
rather business aspect ; the slaves by this time become
hardened to suffering, "they have no more tears to shed,"
the chords of sympathy have been severed, and they
seem stolid and indifferent. At Ujiji one sees a regular
slave-market established-. There are " slave-folds and
pens," like the stock-yards of railroads for cattle, into
which the naked wretches are driven by hundreds, to
wallow on the ground, and half starved on food not fit
for hogs. By the time they reach here they are mere
" ebony skeletons," attenuated, haggard, gaunt human
frames. Their very voices have sunk to a mere hoarse
whisper, which comes with an unearthly sound from, out
their parched, withered lips. Low moans, like those
that escape from the dying, fill the air, and they reel
and stagger when they attempt to stand upright, so
wasted are they by the havoc of hunger. They look
like a vast herd of black skeletons, and as one looks at
them in their horrible sufferings he cannot but exclaim,
"how can an all-merciful Father permit such things?"
No matter whether on the slow and famishing march or
crowded like starved pigs in the overloaded canoes, it is
the same unvarying scene of hunger and horror, on
which the cruel slave-trader looks without remorse or
pity. It may be asked, How are these slaves obtained?
The answer is, By a systematic war waged in the popu-
lous country of Marungu by banditti, supported by
Arabs. These pay guns and powder for the slaves
the former capture, which enables them to keep up
the war. These Arabs, who sell the slaves on the
coast, furnish the only market for the native banditti of
the interior. These latter are mostly natives of Unyam-
wege who band together to capture all the inhabitants
of villages too weak to resist them. Marungu is the
great productive field of their Satanic labors. Here
almost every small village is independent, recognizing
378 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
no ruler but its own petty chief. These are often at
variance with each other, and instead of banding to-
gether to resist a common foe, look on quietly while one
after another is swept by the raiders. In crossing a
river, Stanley met two hundred of these wretches
chained together, and, on inquiry, found they belonged
to the governor of Unyambembe, a former chaperon of
Speke and Burton, and had been captured by an officer
of the prince of Zanzibar. This prince had made a
treaty with Eng^ind to put a stop to this horrible
traffic, and yet nere was one of his officers engaged
in it, taking his captives to Zanzibar, and this was his
third batch during the year. There are two or three
entries in Stanley's journal which throw much light on
the way this hunt for slaves is carried on.
" October 17th. — Arabs organized to-day from three
districts to avenge the murder and eating of one man
and ten women by a tribe half-way between Kassessa
and Nyangwe. After six days' slaughter, the Arabs
returned with three hundred slaves, fifteen hundred
goats, besides spears, etc."
"October 24th. — The natives of Kabonga, near
Nyangwe, were sorely troubled two or three days ago
by a visit paid them by Uanaamwee in the employ of
Mohammed el Said. Their insolence was so intolerable
that the natives at last said ' we will stand this no
longer. They will force our wives and daughters before
our eye if we hesitate any longer to kill them, and be-
fore the Arabs come we will be off.' Unfortunately, only
one was killed, the others took fright and disappeared
to arouse the Arabs with a new grievance. To-day, an
Arab chief set out for the scene of action with murder-
ous celerity, and besides capturing ten slaves, killed
thirty natives and set fire to eight villages — 'a small
prize,' the Arabs said."
"October 27th. — The same man made an attack on
some fishermen on the left bank of the Lualaba. He
left at night and returned at noon with fifty or sixty
captives, besides some children."
DEPOPULATING THE COUNTRY. 379
"Are these kind of wars frequent? " asked Stanley.
" Frequent ! " was the reply, " sometimes six or ten
times a month."
One of these captives said to Stanley, on the march
from Mana to Manibo, " Master, all the plain lying be-
tween Mana, Manibo and Nyangwe when I first came
here eight years ago, was populated so thickly that we
travelled through gardens, villages, and fields, every
quarter of an hour. There were flocks of goats and
black pigs around every village. You can see what it
now is." He saw that it was an uninhabited wilder-
ness. At that time, Livingstone saw how the country
was becoming depopulated before the slave-traders, but,
says Stanley, " Were it possible for him to rise from the
dead and take a glance at the districts now depopulated,
it is probable that he would be more than ever filled
with sorrow at the misdoings of these traders."
He thinks there is but one way of putting a perpetual
end to this infernal traffic, and that is by stopping it in
the interior. English and American cruisers on the
coast can have but partial success. The course of the
khedive of Egypt, as described in the article in Baker's
expedition, is the true one. Annex the interior of
Africa to some strong power and establish stations on
the great highways over which these traders are com-
pelled to transport their human chattels, where they will
be pounced upon and made to give up their captives,
and the trade will soon cease from its being too hazard-
ous and unprofitable.
Portugal has no right to the West Coast which it
claims. Let England, or it and America together, claim
and exercise sovereignty over it and it will need no
cruisers on the coast to stop the trade in slaves. At any
rate, it is high time the Christian nations of -the world
put a stop to this disgrace to humanity.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Stanley meets Tipo-tipo, the friend of Cameron — Learns all about
Cameron's movements — Stanley warned not to go on — Fearful
stories — Contracts with Tipo-Tipo to escort him sixty camps— Self-
reliance of Stanley — Women an obstacle in the way of advancing —
Nyangwe — Its market — A lively scene — The two chiefs — A large
Harem — The original inhabitants — Strength of the expedition.
A RRIVING near Nyangwe, one of the first to meet
X\_ him was the Arab, Tipo-tipo, who had conducted
Cameron as far as the Kasongo country, as described in
the account of that traveler's journey. He was a
splendid specimen of a man physically, and just the one
to give Stanley all the information he wanted respect-
ing Cameron's movements. He told him that the latter
wanted to follow the river to the sea, but that his men
were unwilling to go; besides, no canoes could be ob-
tained for the purpose. He also told him that, after
staying a long time at Kasongo, he had joined a com-
pany of Portguese traders and proceeded south. Cam-
eron left the Lualaba at Nyangwe, satisfied that it is
the Congo. But he left the river at that point (a hun-
dred miles and more short of the point reached by Liv-
ingstone on the same stream), and, in a south-west
direction, he crossed the country to the Atlantic coast.
One thing was clear ; Cameron had not settled the
great problem that Livingstone wished of all things to
solve — this great unfinished work of his had been left
for him to complete, or leave it to some future, more
daring or more successful explorer. Could he get canoes
— could he surmount difficulties that neither Livingstone
nor Cameron were able to overcome ? were the grave
questions Stanley asked himself. He had long dia-
logues with Tipo-tipo and other Arab chiefs, all of
whom dissuaded him from attempting to follow the
Lualaba by land, or trying to get canoes. They told
880
LIVINGSTONE'S GREAT PLATEAU. 381
him frightful stories of the cannibals below — of dwarfs
striped like zebras and ferocious demons, with poisoned
arrows, living on the backs of elephants, of anacondas,
of impenetrable forests — in short, conjured up a coun-
try and people that no stranger who placed any value
on his life would ever encounter.
The great plateau of lakes and rivers, though on a
much grander scale, may be compared with the plateau
of Minnesota. On this elevated flat we have a thou-
sand lakes and streams interlapping, some the head
waters of the Red River of the North, flowing into
Hudson's Bay ; some the sources of the Mississippi, and
some the extreme western sources of the St. Lawrence.
On Livingstone's great interior African plateau of lakes
and rivers, including the splendid Lake Tanganika, we
have the sources of the wild and rushing Zambesi, flow-
ing into the Indian Ocean, interlapping with the tribu-
taries of the Lualaba, which is the Congo flowing into
the Atlantic.
North of the Tanganika Lake we have the two equa-
torial reservoirs and basins of the Nile ; the one from
800 to 1,000 feet above the other, and draining a vast
extent of country east and south. Both those great lakes
have been circumnavigated, and from the " divide " on
the south, and the lofty mountains on the west side of
Lake Albert, we know the limits of its drainage.
From the fact that the Lualaba flowed north to a dis-
tance beyond the knowledge of the natives, was doubt-
less one, and perhaps the chief, reason why Livingstone
suspected it emptied into the Nile. Stanley now knew
better. How far north it might flow before it turned
he could not say, yet he felt certain that turn west it
would, sooner or later, and empty into the Atlantic
Ocean — and the possibility of his tracing it, had a
powerful fascination for him. Its course, he knew, lay
through the largest half of Africa, which was a total
blank. Here, by the way, it is rather singular that
Stanley, following Livingstone, who alone had explored
Lake Bembe, and made it the source of the Lualaba,
382 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
adopts his statement, while Cameron, on mere hearsay,
should assert that its source was in marshes. The river,
after leaving the lake, flows two hundred miles and
empties into Lake Mweru, a body of water containing
about one thousand eight hundred square miles ; issuing
from which, it takes the name of Lualaba, which it
holds and loses by turns as it moves on its mighty
course for one thousand one hundred miles, till it rolls,
ten miles wide at its mouth, into the broad Atlantic as
the Congo.
Stanley, from first to last, seemed to have a wonder-
ful power not only over the Arabs that composed his
expedition, as we have before mentioned, but over all
those with whom he came in contact in his explorations.
Notwithstanding all the horrors depicted as awaiting
any attempt to advance beyond Nyangwe, this Tipo-
tipo agreed for $5,000, to accompany him with a strong
escort a distance of sixty camps, on certain conditions.
That he would do it on any conditions was extraordinary,
considering the fact, if it was a fact, that the last attempt
to penetrate this hostile territory resulted in the loss of
five hundred men. The conditions were, that the march
should commence from Nyangwe — not occupy more than
three months — and that if Stanley should finally con-
clude, at the end of the sixty marches, he could not get
through, he would return to Nyangwe ; or if he met
Portuguese traders and chose to go on to the coast in
the direction they were moving, he should detail two-
thirds of his force to accompany said Tipo back to
Nyangwe for his protection.
To all these Stanley agreed, except the one promising,
if he concluded to go on at the end of the sixty marches,
to give him two-thirds of the men of the expedition to
see him safely back. On this article of agreement there
was a hitch, and Stanley showed his Yankee education,
by putting in a last article, by which if Tipo-tipo, through
cowardice, should fail to complete his sixty marches, he
should forfeit his $5,000, and have no escort for his re-
turn, and then gave him time to think of it while he
STANLEY'S SELF RELIANCE. 383
went to see young Pocoke and confer with him. They
went over the whole ground together, and Stanley told
him it was a matter of life and death with both of them ;
failure was certain, and perhaps a horrible death; suc-
cess was honor and glory. It was a fearful picture he
drew of the possible future, but Frank's ready response
was, " go on."
At this point Stanley reveals one of his strongest
characteristics, which we mentioned in .the sketch of
him at the beginning of the book — the Napoleonic
quality of relying on himself. Ordinary, well-established
principles and rules often condemned the action of Bona-
parte— results approved them. So ordinary prudence
would have turned Stanley back as it did Cameron —
the stories told him of the character of the tribes in ad-
vance— the obstacles he would have to encounter, all the
mystery, perils and uncertainty of the future — the uni-
versal warning and fearful prognostications of those who
were supposed to kn ->w best — his isolated condition in
the heart of Africa, everything that can surround a man
to influence him in his actions, were gathered there
around that lonely man at that outpost of civilized enter-
prise; yet, falling back on himself, rising superior to all
outward influences, gauging all the probabilities and
possibilities by his own clear perceptions and indomi-
table will, he determined to push forward. If he could
not get canoes, which he was quite sure he could not
any more than Cameron, then he would try to follow
the river by land; if that failed, he would make canoes
in the African forest; if he could not go peaceably, he
would fight his way, and not turn back till deserted by
his own men, and was left alone in the midst of a sav-
age, hostile people. This determination, under the cir-
cumstances, show him to be a character of no ordinary
stamp, and mark him, as we said, as one who, in a revo-
lution, would control the stormy elements around him,
and mount to power or to the scaffold.
There were also minor obstacles attending this des-
perate effort to trace the Lualaba to the sea. He had
384 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
thirteen women in his expedition, wives of his chief
Arabs, some of them with young children, others in var-
ious stages of pregnancy, who would be delivered of
children before they reached the Atlantic coast, and un-
der what circumstances the hour of travail might come,
no one new. It might be in the hour of battle, or in
the desperate race for life, when one hour's delay would
be total ruin to the expedition, and death to all. It
might be in the struggle and fight around a cataract, or
in the day of extreme famine. A thousand things had
to be taken into consideration before resolving on this
desperate movement. But no matter, the obstacles
might even be more formidable than represented, the
risk tenfold greater, his mind was made up — the secrets
of that mysterious river he would unlock, or his last
struggles and mysterious fate add one more to the sec-
rets it held.
At length the contract with Tipo-tipo to escort him
sixtyfmarches was made and signed, and then Stanley
informed his own men of it, and told them that if at the
end of that time they came across a caravan bound for
the west coast, part would join it, and the rest might, if
they wished, return to Nyangwe. They agreed to stand
by the contract, and Stanley moved forward into Ny-
angwe, and was received by one of the two Arab chiefs,
that bear sway in the place, with becoming courtesy,
who seemed surprised at the orderly, quiet march of his
force, and still more when told that the distance from
Tanganika, some three hundred and forty miles, had
been made in about forty days.
Stanley describes minutely the place and its political
management, but seems, like Livingstone and Cameron,
to be particulary struck with its market. This is held
every fourth day, and from one to three thousand peo-
ple assemble to trade ; most of the vendors are women,
and the animated manner in which trade is carried on
amused Livingstone exceedingly, Though he could not
understand their language, he could their gestures,
which were quite as expressive. This pleasant scene,
A PERFECT BABEL. 385
however, was marred one day by a messenger stalking
into the market with ten jaw-bones of men tied to a
string and hanging over his shoulder, which he boasted
of having killed and eaten, and described with his knife
how he had cut them up.
Early in the morning of the market day the river, as
far as its course can be seen, presents a lively 'appear-
ance, for it is covered with canoes, loaded to their gun-
wales with natives and articles for the market piled on
top of each other, as they all press toward one point.
Amid the laughter and jargon of the natives, may be
heard the crowing of cocks, and squealing of pigs, and
bleating of goats. Having reached the landing-place
the men quietly shoulder their paddles and walk up the
bank, leaving the women to carry the articles up to the
market-place. These are placed in a large basket and
slung on their backs by a strap across their forehead.
When this great crowd of two or three thousand are as-
sembled the babel begins. But the talking and chaffer-
ing are done by the women ; the men move about pay-
ing but little attention to the bartering, unless some-
thing important, as the sale of a slave, is going on. The
women do not walk about, but have selected a spot
where they propose to do business, they let down the
basket, and spreading the articles on the ground so as to
appear to the best advantage, they squat themselves in
the basket, where they look like some huge shell fish.
The vendors being thus stationary, the buyers also
become so, and hence it is always a close, jammed mass of
human beings, screaming, sweating and sending forth no
pleasant odor for three or four hours. They do not
break up gradually, but on the movement of some per-
son a general scramble will commence, and in twenty
minutes the whole two thousand or more be scattered
in every direction. The markets of this region are held
on neutral ground by the various tribes, and their feuds
are laid aside for that day. Except at Nyangwe, unin-
habited spots are selected. The neighbouring chiefs are
always present, and can be seen lounging lazily about.
386 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Stanley counted fifty-seven different articles for sale,
ranging from sweet potatoes to beautiful girls, while
the currency was shells/beads, copper and brass wire and
palm cloth.
There are two foreign chiefs at the place, who are
very jealous of each other, as they each wish to be re-
garded by the natives as the most powerful. Sheikh
Abed, a tall, thin old man with a white beard, occupies
the Southern section of the town, and Muini Dugumbi
the other, It has not been long an Arab trading post,
for Dugumbi is the first Arab that came here, and that
was no later than 1868, and pitched his quarters, and
now the huts of his friends, with their families and
slaves, number some three hundred. He is an Arab
trader from the east coast, and soon after his arrival es-
tablished a harem, composed of more than three hun-
dred slave women. Though a rollicking, joking man
himself, his followers are a reckless, freebooting set.
The original inhabitants of Nyangwe were driven out
by Muini Dugumbi, and now occupy portions of both
sides of the river, and live by fishing, and are said to be
a singular tribe. Stanley estimated there must have
been forty-two thousand of them in the region previous
to the coming of this Arab chief, who spread desolation
on every side, of which there remain to-day only twenty
thousand.
Stanley remained here only about a week, for Tipo-
tipo arriving on the 2d of November, he prepared to
start on his unknown journey. The expedition, when
he mustered it on the morning of the 4th, numbered one
hundred and seventy-six, armed with sixty-three
muskets and rifles, two double-barreled guns and ten re-
volvers. Besides these, there were sixty-eight axes,
that Stanley, with great forethought, purchased, think-
ing the time might come when he would need them as
much as his guns. Tipo-tipo brought with him seven
.hundred followers, though only four hundred were to
accompany the expedition the sixty marches. Together,
they made quite a little army, but many of them were
BEGINNING OF THE GREAT MARCH. 387
women and children, who always accompany the Arabs
in their inarches or forays ; still, the force, all drawn up
presented an imposing display. A hundred of these
were armed with flint-lock muskets, the rest with
spears and shields.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The great march begins — Gloomy prospects — March through a dense
forest — Axes used to clear the way — A Village in the forest — Su-
periority of the inhabitants — The men disheartened — Slow march-
ing— Discontent — Difficulties increase — Tipo-tipo wishes to be re-
leased from his engagement — People that smelt iron-ore — A row of
skulls as an ornament for the village — Hunting Sokos — The Can-
nibals— Naked women — The [Lualaba reached — Not to be left
again — The natives crossing the river.
ON the 5th of November, Stanley, at the head of this
motley array, turned his back on Nyangwe and
his face to the wilderness. It was an eventful morning
for him. Eighteen hundred miles of an unbroken coun-
try stretched before him, wrapped in profound mystery,
and peopled with races of which the outside world had
never heard, and filled with dangers that would appall
the bravest heart. He felt, as he turned and gave a last
look at Nyangwe, that the die was cast — his fate for
good or ill sealed. What sad misgivings must at times
have made a feeling of faintness creep over his heart —
what terrible responsibilities crowded upon him ; aye,
what gloomy forebodings, in spite of his courage, would
weigh down his spirit. If he had canoes, the starting
would have been more cheerful, but the dense and tan-
gled forest, whose dark line could be traced against the
sky, wore a forbidding aspect. They marched but nine
miles the first day, and though the country was open,
the manner in which the men bore it, did not promise
well for their endurance when they should enter the
jungle. Every pound was earned on men's shoulders,
388 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
besides their weapons, all the provisions, stores of cloth,
and beads, and wire, the arms and ammunition, of which
there had to be a large quantity, (for they might be two
years fighting their way across the continent,) and the
boat in sections. The next morning, Tipo-tipo's hetero-
geneous crowd started first, which impeded the march
by its frequent halts, for the women and children had
to be cared for. They soon entered the gloomy forest of
Mitamba, when the marching became more difficult, and
the halts more frequent, while the dew fell from the trees
in great rain-drops, wetting the narrow path they were
following, till it became a thick inud. The heavy foli-
age shut out the sky, and the disordered caravan march-
ed on in gloomy twilight, and at last, drenched to the
skin, reached a village four miles from camp, and waited
for the carriers of the boat to arrive. These found the
boat a heavy burden, for the foliage grew so thick and
low over the path, that the sections had to be pushed
by sheer force through it. To make the camp this night
more gloomy, one of the Arab chiefs who had been in the
forest before, said, with great complacency, that what
they had endured was nothing to that which was before
them. The next day the path was so overgrown and
obstructed by fallen trees, that axemen had to go before
the carriers of the boat to clear the way for them. On
the 10th,having reachedUregga,a village in the very heart
of the forest, they halted for a rest. The isolated inhab-
itants seemed to be in advance of those whom Stanley
had seen. The houses were built in blocks, and were
square like those of Manyema, and contained various
fancy articles, some of them displaying a great taste, and
he saw curiously carved bits of wood, and handsome
spoons, and for the first time in Africa, beheld a cane
settee.
The men carrying the boat did not come up for two
days, and then quite broken and disheartened. Indeed,
here almost at the very outset, everything seemed to
point to an early dissolution of the expedition. Not
only were his men discontented, but Tipo-tipo, with all
DANGERS AND DISCONTENT.
389
his elegance of manner and pompous pretence, began to
glower and grumble, not merely at the hardships his
people were compelled to encounter, but because sick-
ness had broke out in his camp.
On the 13th, the three hundred out of the seven hun-
dred of his men branched off on their expedition. The
marching now became not only monotonous but extrem-
ely painful, and so slow that it took a whole day's march
to make a distance of nine miles — a rate of progress that
Stanley saw veiy clearly would never bring him to the
25
LARGE AFRICAN SERPENT.
390 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Atlantic Ocean. They bad now been seven days on the
march and had made but forty miles, and scarcely one
mile west. Thus far their course had been almost due
north toward the great desert of Sahara, and not toward
the Atlantic Ocean. These five days had been utterly
thrown away as far as progress in the right direction was
concerned ; not an inch had been gained, and the whole
expedition was discouraged. The carriers of the boat
begged Stanley to throw it away or go back to Nyang-
we, while the Arab chiefs made no attempt to conceal
their discontent, but openly gave vent to their disincli-
nation to proceed any farther. Even the splendid bar-
barian dandy, Tipo-tipo, who prided himself on his su-
periority to all other Arabs, began to look moody ; while
the increasing sickness in'the camp cast additional gloom
over it. Huge serpents crossed their path, while all sorts
of wild animals and vermin peopled the dense forest and
swarmed around them.
On the loth, they made but six miles and a half and
yet, short as was the distance, it took the men carrying
the boat twenty-four hours to make it, and all were so
weary that a halt of an entire day was ordered, to let
them rest. Added to all this, the forest became ten
times more matted than before. Both the heavier tim-
ber and the undergrowth grew thicker and thicker, shut-
ting out not only the light of the sun, but every part-
icle of moving air, so that the atmosphere became suffo-
cating and stifling. Panting for breath, the little army
crawled and wormed itself through the interlacing bran-
ches, and when night came down were utterly disheart-
ened. Even the elegant Tipo-tipo now gave out, and
came to Stanley to be released from his engagement.
It was in vain that the latter appealed to his honor, his
pride and fear of ridicule should he now turn back to
Nyangwe. But to every thing he could urge, the very
sensible answer was returned : " If there is nothing
worse than this before us, it will yet take us, at the rate
we are going, a year to make the sixty marches and as
long a time to return. You are only killing everybody
TIPO-TIPO PERSUADED TO GO ON. 391
by your obstinacy ; such a country was never made for
decent men to travel in, it was made for pagans and
monkeys."
It is in such circumstances like these that those quali-
ties which have made Stanley the most successful ex-
plorer of modern times exhibit themselves. Napoleon
said, when speaking of troops " Even brave soldiers have
their 'moment de peur,'" the time when he shrinks.
But this man seems an exception to this rule. To him
the moment of fear never seems to come, for he never
feels the contagion of example. He adheres to his reso-
lution to go on if but a handful will stand by him.
He seems impervious to the contagion that seizes others,
and a panic in battle would sweep by him unmoved.
After talking to Tipo-tipo for two hours, he finally got
him to accompany him twenty marches farther.
There were two things in this village, shut up in the
heart of the forest, that impressed Stanley much. He
found here a primitive forge, in which the natives smelted
iron-ore, found in the neighborhood, and a smithy, in
which the iron was worked up into instruments of all
kinds, from a small knife to a cleaver; hatchets, hammers,
even wire and ornaments for the arms and legs were
made. How this rude people, to whom even an Arab
trader had never come, should have discovered the
properties of iron-ore, how to disengage the iron and
work it into every variety of instruments, seems inex-
plicable. The whole must have been the product of the
brain of some native genius.
The other remarkable thing was a double row of skulls,
running the entire length of the village, set in the ground,
leaving the naked, round top, glistening in the sun.
There were nearly two hundred of them. Amazed, he
asked his Arabs what they were, they replied "soko
skulls." The soko, Cameron calls a gorilla, and we have
no doubt many of the remarkable stories about gorillas
refer to this monkey. But Livingstone says it is an
animal resembling the gorilla, and his account of their
habits shows they are not the fierce, fearless gorilla that
392 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
is afraid of neither man nor beast. It is about four feet ten
inches in height, and often walks erect, with his hands
on his head, as if to steady himself. With a yellow face,
adorned with ugly whiskers, a low forehead and high
ears, he looks as if he might be a hideous cross between
a man and a beast. His teeth, though dog-like in their
size, still slightly resemble those found in the human
head. The fingers are almost exactly like the natives.
He is cunning and crafty, and will often stalk a man or
woman as stealthily as a hunter will a deer. He seldom
does much damage, unless driven to bay, when he fights
fiercely. It takes great pleasure in nabbing children and
carrying them up into a tree and holding them in his
arms, but if a bunch of bananas is thrown on the ground
he will descend, and leaving the child, seize it. It seldom
uses its teeth, and then, if it is a man he is in conflict
\viil , v.-'i'.l Lite off his fingers and let him go. They are
hunted and trapped by the natives for their flesh, of
which they are very fond. A man hunting for them one
day, having maimed one, in his attempt to spear it, the
soko grabbed the spear, and breaking it, seized the man.
The latter calling to his companion for help, he bit off
his fingers and ran away.
A native was hoeing in his field one morning, when a
soko, creeping up stealthily behind, threw his arms
around him. The latter roared in terror, when the
soko, grinning and giggling like a demon, let go and ran
away, apparently enjoying the practical joke hugely.
He will often snatch up a child, and after pinching and
scratching it, let it go.
Stanley, not satisfied with the answer of his men, sent
for the chief and asked him what those skulls were.
He said of the Sokos, which they hunt becav. c of the
destruction they make of the bananas, and that ; ^ieir meat
was good. Stanley offered him a hundred c /..Ties if he
would bring one to him alive or dead. The cliief went
into the woods in search of some, but at even ing return-
ed without any. He, however, gave him a portion of
the skin of one. Stanley had the curiosity to take two
SOKO SKULLS. 393
of these skulls home with him, and gave them to Pro-
fessor Huxley to examine, who reported that they were
the skulls of a man and woman. The former, therefore,
comes to the conclusion that they were all the skulls of
men and women who had been eaten by these cannibals.
But we do not believe this conclusion fairly justifiable,
from Professor's Huxley's report on two skulls. In the
first place, the Arabs would scarcely have made such a
mistake as this implies — they had seen too many soko
skulls. In the second place, the chief corroborated
their statement, and he had no reason for telling a
falsehood. If those skulls were placed thus prominent-
ly in the streets, it was to boast of them, not to lie
about. It is far more likely that there |were a few
human skulls mixed in with the sokos, and when Stan-
ley asked for a couple, the largest and best-shaped were
selected for him, and these proved to belong to human
beings. His hunting for one was certainly not to
prove he had told Stanley a falsehoood. The same
peculiarity was noticed here that Baker mentions of
the natives of Fatiko — the women go naked, while the
men are partly covered with skins. The whole apparel
of the women is an apron four inches square.
On the 1 9th of March, they reached the Lualaba,
sweeping majestically through the silent forest. Stanley
immediately determined there should be no more
tangled forests for him, but that broad current of the
river should bear him to the Atlantic Ocean or to death.
The camp was prepared and the breakfast eaten, while
Pocoke was getting the Lady Alice screwed together.
Soon she was launched on the stream, amid the huzzas
of the party. Although the river here was nearly three-
quarters of a mile wide, and the opposite shore appear-
ed like an uninhabited forest, sharp eyes had detected
the wonderful apparition that had appeared on the far-
ther shore, and the news spread so rapidly, that when
Stanley in the Lady Alice approached it, he saw the
woods alive with human beings, and several canoes tied
to the shore. He hailed them, and tried to make a
394 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
bargain with them to transport his party across. They
refused point-blank, but afterwards seemed to relent and
offered to exchange blood-brotherhood with them, and
appointed a place on a neighbouring island where the
ceremony should be performed. It was, however, dis-
covered that it was a treacherous plot to murder them,
and, but, for precautions taken in view of its possibility,
there would have been a fight.
Stanley now determined to cross his men by detach-
ments in his own boat. He took over thirty above the
village, and then told the natives that they had better
assist him in carrying over the rest, for which they
would be well paid. They consented, and the whole
expedition was safely landed on the left bank of the
river.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Congo changed to Livingstone — Frightened Natives — the March — De-
serted villages — The land party lost — Stanley's anxiety — a dash
on the natives, one man killed — Uledi dispatched after the miss-
ing party — The Lost Found — The March — A Floating Hospital —
Passing rapids — Tipo-Tipo wishes to turn back — A queer village —
Increasing sickness — The dead every day thrown into the river —
A fight — Marching on — A desperate fight of two days — A success-
ful stratagem — Tipo-tipo resolves to leave — Stanley's speech to his
men — Christmas day — A frolic — A boat race — The parties separate
— A touching farewell — A sad day — Stanley tries to arouse the
HAVING been ferried across the river by the na-
tives, Stanley felt quite secure of the friendship of
this first tribe he had met on the banks of the Lualaba.
But here he resolved to change its name to Livingstone,
which ever after he continues to call it. Villages lined
the banks, all he says, adorned with skulls of human
beings. But instead of finding the inhabitants of them
friendly, there were none to be seen; all had mysteri-
ously disappeared, whether from fright or to arouse the
tribes below, it was impossible to determine ; it seemed
FIRST FIGHT ON THE RIVER. 395
from the former, for notwithstanding they had over-
come their first fear so much as to ferry the expedition
across the river, they had not taken away their canoes, nor
carried with them their provisions. Leaving these un-
touched, as a sort of promise to the tribes below that
their property should be held sacred, the expedition
took up its march down the river. Stanley, with thirty-
three men went by water, in the Lady Alice, while
Tipo-tipo and young Pocoke with the rest of the party
marched along the bank. Village after village was pass-
ed ; the natives uttering their wild war-cry, and then
disappearing in the forest, leaving everything behind
them. Whether it was a peaceful village, or a crowded
market-place they passed, they inspired the same terror,
and huts and market-places were alike deserted. This
did not promise well for the futnre.
In the middle of the afternoon, Stanley, in the Lady
Alice, came to a river one hundred yards wide. Know-
ing that the land party could not cross this without a
boat, he halted to wait for its approach, in order to ferry
it over, and built a strong camp. This was on Novem-
ber 23rd, 1876. At sunset it had not arrived, and he be-
came anxious. Next morning it did not make its ap-
pearance, and still more anxious, he ascended this river,
named the Ruigi, several miles, to see if they had struck
it farther up.
Returning, in the afternoon, without hearing any-
thing of the expedition, he was startled, as he approach-
ed the camp, at the firing of guns. Alarmed, he told the
rowers to bend to their oars, and sweeping rapidly
downward, he soon came to the mouth of the stream,
and found it blocked with canoes, filled with natives.
Dashing down upon them with loud shouts, they fled in
every direction. One dead man floating in the stream
was the only result of the first fight on the Livingtone.
The day wore away and night came down, and silence
and solitude rested on the forest stretching along the
banks of the Ruigi, where he anxiously waited to hear
musket-shots announcing the arrival of the land party.
396 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
It was a long and painful night, for one of two things
was certain : Tipo-tipo and Pocoke had lost their way
or been attacked and overpowered. The bright tropi-
cal sun rose over the forest east of the river Kuigi, but
its banks were silent and still. Stanley could not en-
dure the suspense any longer, and dispatched Uledi, with
five of the boat's crew, to seek the wanderers. This
Uledi, hereafter to the close of the march, becomes a
prominent figure. Stanley had made him coxswain of
the boat Lady Alice, and he had proved to be one of
the most trustworthy men of the expedition, and was to
show himself, in its future desperate fortunes, one of the
most cool and daring, worthy, only half-civilized as he
was, to stand beside Stanley. The latter gave him strict
directions as to his conduct in hunting up the fugitives
— especially respecting the villages he might come across.
Uledi told him not to be anxious about him — he would
soon find the lost party.
Stanley, of course, could do nothing but wait, though
filled with the most anxious thoughts. The river swept
by calmly as ever, unconscious of the troubled hearts
on its banks ; the great forest stood silent and still in
the tropical sun, and the day wore away as it ever does
-7-thoughtless of the destinies its hours are settling, and
indifferent to the human suffering that crowds them.
But at four o'clock a musket shot rang out of the woods,
and soon Uledi appeared leading the lost party. They
had gone astray and been attacked by the natives, who
killed three of their number. Luckily they captured a
prisoner, whom they forced to act as a guide to conduct
them back to the river, and, after marching all day, met
Uledi in search of them. They were ferried across and
allowed to scatter abroad in search of food, which they
took wherever found, without any regards to the rights
of the natives. Necessity had compelled Stanley to re-
lax his strict rules in this respect.
The next day the march was continued as before, com-
munication being kept up by those on the land and on
the water by drum-taps. The villages they passed were
WOMI-X CULTIVATING THE SOIL
(As seen along Stanley's route).
GREEN TURTLE.
ANIMATED NATURE AS SEEN ON THK COXCO.
(Serpent-eater, Hornbills, Vultures, Weaver Birds).
BOATS UPSET. 399
deserted — every soul fleeing at their approach. Pro-
ceeding down the river, they came across six abandoned
canoes more or less injured. Repairing these, they
lashed them together as a floating hospital for the sick
of the land party, the number of which had greatly in-
creased from the exposures and hardships they were
compelled to undergo. In the afternoon they came upon
the first rapids they had met. Some boats, attempting
their descent, were upset and attacked by the natives,
but they were beaten off. Four Snider rifles were lost,
which brought down on Pocoke, who had permitted the
Arabs to run this risk, a severe rebuke, and a still
severer one on the Arab chief, who had asked the former
to let him make the attempt. The chief, enraged at
the reproaches heaped upon him, went to Tipo-tipo, and
declared that he would not serve Stanley any longer.
This, together with the increased hostility of the na-
tives, and alarming sickness, and dangerous rapids,
brought the head chief to Stanley with a solemn appeal
to turn back before it was too late. But the latter had
reached a point where nothing but absolute fate could
turn him back.
The rapids were passed in safety by the canoes — the
Lady Alice being carried on men's shoulders around
them. Natives were occasionally met, but no open
hostility was shown for several days. The river would
now be contracted by the bold shores, and rush foaming
along, and now spread into lake-like beauty, dotted
with green islands, the quiet abodes of tropical birds
and monkeys, that filled the air with a jargon of sounds/
Among the most interesting of the feathered tribe of
West Africa are the weaver birds. They owe their
name to ti e inimitable art they display in constructing
their nests, which are usually suspended over water
from the smaller branches of a tree, the entrance being
below ; all of which precautions are used by the birds
to protect themselves from the ravages of the monkeys.
On the 4th of December they came to a long, straggling
town, composed of huts only seven feet long by five
400 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
wide, standing apart, yet connected by roofs — the inter-
vening space covered, and common to the inhabitants
of both the adjacent huts. It was, however, deserted,
like the rest. This persistent desertion was almost as
dispiriting as open hostility, and an evil fate seemed
to hang over the expedition. The sickness kept in-
creasing, and day after day all that broke the monotony
of the weary hours was the tossing over now and then of
dead bodies into the river. The land party presented a
heart-broken appearance as they crawled, at night,
laden with the sick and dying, into camp. At this
place Stanley found an old, battered, abandoned canoe,
capable of carrying sixty people. This he repaired, and
added it to his floating hospital.
On the 8th of December he came to another large
town, the inhabitants of which, in spite of all attempts
to make peace, were determined to fight, and with four-
teen canoes approached the bank on which the land
paity were encamped, and commenced shooting their
arrows. This lasted for some time, when Stanley took
the Lady Alice and dashed among them, pouring in at
the same time such a close and deadly fire that they
turned and fled.
The story of the slow drifting and marching of the
expedition down the Livingstone is a very monotonous
one to read, but was full of the deepest interest to the
travelers, for the forest on either side of the great river
seemed filled with horns and war-drums, while out from
a creek or from behind an island canoes would dart and
threaten an attack. Floating peacefully through those
primeval forests on this stately river, bearing them ever
on to the unknown, would make the heart heave with
emotion, but when danger and death were ever present,
the intensest feelings were aroused.
At length they came to a series of villages lining the
bank and surrounded with plenty. There was a large
population, and the natives, at the approach of Stanley,
blew their ivory horns and beat their drums, and soon
a whole fleet of canoes, heavily manned, attacked the
A BOLD TRICK. 401
little party in the boat. By a bold dash Stanley was
able to seize and occupy the lower village, where he
quickly intrenched himself. The savages came down
in immense numbers, filling the air with hideous shouts
and rushed on the slender defenses with desperate fury.
It was astonishing to see these men, to whom firearms
were new, show so little fear of them. They were the
boldest fighters Stanley had as yet encountered in Africa,
and though he punished them severely they kept up
the attack, with short intervals between, for nearly two
days. At last the appearance of Tipo-tipo along the
bank with the land forces made them beat a retreat,
which they did with a tremendous noise of horns and
loud threats of vengeance. Out of the few with Stanley,
four were killed and thirteen wounded, or seventeen out
of forty — nearly half of the whole force. This showed
desperate fighting, avd as the enemy advanced by hun-
dreds their loss must have been fearful.
Stanley, who was equal in stratagem to an American
Indian, played them a trick that night which took all
their bravado out of them. Waiting till he thought
they were asleep, he took the Lady Alice, and Frank
Pocoke a canoe, and, both with muffled oars, rowed up
the river to find their camp. It was a rainy, dark and
windy night, and, hence, favorable to the enterprise he
had in hand, and his movements were undiscovered.
By the light of a fire on the bank he ascertained the
location of the camp, and advancing cautiously saw
some forty canoes drawn up on shore. Bidding Frank
go down stream and lie to, to catch them as they floated
down, he quietly cut them all adrift. They were caught
by the former, and by midnight were at Stanley's camp.
He knew that he now had them in his power, and so in
the morning proceeded to their camp and made offers of
peace, which they were glad to accept on the condition
that their canoes were returned to them. This was
agreed to and blood-brotherhood made. Stanley, how-
ever, whose great need had been canoes, determined not
to let these slip through his hands, and retained twenty-
three, giving back only fifteen.
402 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Tipo-tipo now told Stanley that he would proceed no
further, his people were dying rapidly, the difficulties of
marching were increasing, and he must return. The
latter saw he was determined to go, although eight
marches remained to be made, and released him. In
truth, now he had boats enough to carry his entire
expedition, Tipo-tipo, cumbered with the sick, would be
a burden rather than a help, 'and at the rate they were
moving, eight marches, more or less, would not amount
to much. Besides, marching by land, Stanley saw must
be given up or they would never get to the sea. Thus
far they had scarcely made any westing at all, having
gone almost due north, and were nearly as far from the
Atlantic Ocean as when they left Nyangwe. The only
thing he feared was the effect the departure of the es-
cort would have on his men. In announcing to them
that on the sixth day they should start down the river,
he made them quite a speech, in which he asked them
if he had not always taken good care of them and ful-
filled all his promises, and said that if they would trust
him implicitly he would surety bring them out to the
ocean and see them safe back to Zanzibar " As a father
looks after his children," he said, " so will I look after
you." A shout greeted him at the close. One of his
chiefs followed in an address to the Arabs, while Uledi,
the cockswain, spoke for the boatmen.
Preparations for starting were now set on foot, canoes
mended, provisions gathered, and everything provided
against future contingencies that could be thought of.
Christmas day came, and the poor fugitives had quite a
frolic there in the wilderness. The twenty-three boats
they had captured were christened by the men, amid
much merriment, and then canoe races followed, rowed
by both men and women; all wound up with a wild
war-dauco on the banks of the river.
The next day Tipo-tipo gave a grand dinner. The
day after, the camps separated, and all intercourse be-
tween them ceased.
On the morning of the 28th, Stanley embarked his
A PLAINTIVE FAREWELL SONG. 403
men to the sound of drum and trumpet, and Tipo-tipo
hearing it in his camp, knew that the parting hour had
come, and paraded his men on the bank. As the expe-
dition slowly floated down the stream toward it, there
was heard a deep, plaintive chant from the Arabs on the
bank, as a hundred melodious voices arose in a farewell
song ; out from the dim forest, and over the rippling
water it floated, in sweet melancholy strains, that touch-
ed every heart in that slowly-moving fleet of canoes.
Louder and louder swelled the chant, increasing in vol-
ume and pathos, as the wanderers drew nearer. As they
approached the Arab camp they saw the singers ranged
in a row along the bank. Passing slowly by them,
they waved a silent adieu, for their hearts were too full
to speak. On they floated, and still the chant went on,
until, at last, it died away in the distance, and sadness
and silence rested on the stream. No one spoke a
word, and Stanley cast his own eyes, not wholly dry,
over the crowded boats, audwas moved with the deepest
pity. Nearly all were sitting with their faces hidden
in their hands and sobbing. Those they were leaving
behind were about to return to their homes — they to
enter new dangers, out of which they might never
emerge. No wonder they were sad, and it is singular
that not a man, even of those who had before deserted,
asked permission to go back. It was a mournful scene
there in the wilds of Africa, and on that mysterious
river, and Stanley said it was the saddest day in his
whole life.
The casting of their fortunes in this desperate venture
of his, shows what wonderful influence he had acquired
over them, and with what devotion he had inspired
them. No wonder his heart clung to them to the last,
and he would never leave them, until he saw them safe
again in their homes. In order to rouse the men, he
shouted, " Sous of Zanzibar, lift up your heads and be
men. What is there to fear ? Here we are all together,
like one family, with hearts united, all strong with the
purpose to reach our home. See this river, it is the
404 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
road to Zanzibar. When saw you a road so wide ?
Strike your paddles deep, and cry out ' Bisrnillah,' and
let us forward." No shout greeted this appeal, as with
sickly smiles they paddled downward. Uledi tried to
sing, but it was such a miserable failure that his sad
companions could not restrain a smile.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
A common fate binding all — " We want to eat you " — The home of the
Hippopotamus — The persuasive eloqiience of the cannibal prisoners
— A novel sensation — A peaceful tribe — the cannibals prevent a fight
— A sudden attack — A successful stratagem — Another fight — A hard
carry around the falls — An advanced tribe — River full of Islands —
Magnificent scenery — Stanley's expedition — A grand barbecue — A
necessary fight — Night work — Seventy-eight hours' incessant toil —
Passing the rapids — A lost man — A thrilling spectacle— Great daring
— Lost men — A fearful night — Rescue in the morning — Brave Uledi
— A carry round the falls — A brilliant manoeuvre — In a net — Man
meat — Another fight — The Congo starts for the sea — Another fight
A deserted village — Around the falls — Muskets — A. fight — Home of
the Hippopotami — A new war-cry — Astonishment of the natives at
seeing a white man — More enemies — Stanley's speech — A fight —
Three hundred and fifteen muskets against forty-four — Starving —
Friendly savages — Abundant provisions — Death and burial of a
chieftain's wife — A friendly tribe — Beautiful women — Serpents in
camp — The last and fiercest fight — Stanley Pool — Friendly chiefs —
Curious interview with King Itisi— A general peace.
STANLEY was now like Cortez when he burned his
ships behind him — there was no returning — one and
all must move on together to a common fate. All danger
of desertion, for the present, was over, and he felt that
the consciousness of there being no possible escape, and
that one destiny awaited them all, not only bound them
closer together, but would make them better fighters.
At first, on their downward march, they met a peace-
ful tribe, and then a hostile one who would listen to no
terms, and whose reply to every request for peace was,
"We don't want you; we will eat you." They, however,
passed by unmolested, and swept down the river, aston-
"WE WILL EAT YOU ! " 405
ished to see it so thickly populated. That night they
encamped in a dense jungle, which was found to be the
home of the hippopotamus in the dry season. Tipo-tipo
had left with Stanley two cannibals he had captured, to
be used by him in conciliating the savages, as they knew
their language. These tried their arts this night on the
natives on the farther bank, who no sooner espied the
strangers, than they beat their drums and advanced to
attack them. The cannibals talked so eloquently and
plausibly to them, that the savages withdrew and left
them in peace. The next morning the}^ came to a large
river named Lowwa, one thousand yards wide.
On the last day of the year, they were moving quietly
down the stream — the heavens bright above them and
the banks green beside them — when they suddenly heard
the hated war-drum sound; and soon the canoes of the
natives shot out from both shores, and for a moment a
collision seemed inevitable; but the two cannibals
shouted Sennenneh! "peace," so plaintively that they
desisted and the little fleet passed on unmolested. But
the next day they met other boats, which advanced, their
crews shouting " we will eat you," but they were easily
driven off. It produced a novel sensation in Stanley to
be hailed every day and ordered to give himself up for
a good roast. At length they came to a peaceful tribe,
from whom they obtained provisions.
Gathering such information as they could from the
natives, they now continued on very quietly, when they
were suddenly attacked by savages in canoes of immense
size. One, eighty-five feet long, singled out the Lady
Alice and made for it. The crew of the latter waited
till it came within fifty feet, and then, pouring in a
deadly volley, made a dash to run it down. The fright-
ened crew, just before the collision, jumped over-board,
leaving the big boat in the hands of Stanley.
Keeping on, after this little fight, they passed small
tributaries, and at length heard the roar of a cataract
below. But while they were listening to the unwelcome
sound, there suddenly rose over it the wild, shrill war-
406 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
cries of the savages from both sides of the river. There
was no escape for the expedition now — they must turn
and fight. Dropping their stone anchors near the bank,
they poured in their volleys, but, not being able to dis-
lodge them, they pulled up their anchors and rowed up
stream, where Stanley divided his forces, and while one
attracted the attention of the enemy in front, the other
landed, and, marching across the land, took them in
rear. As soon as Stanley heard the first shot, announcing
its arrival, he landed and attacked the enemy in front
and routed them, and camped for the night undisturbed.
Next morning, however, the natives appeared again
in strong numbers and attacked the camp. The fight
was kept up for two hours, when a sally was ordered, and
they charged on the enemy, which, though giving way
kept up the fight for four or five hours. Two of Stan-
ley's men were killed and ten wounded. The former
were thrown into the river, for Stanley had determined
to bury no more men till out of the cannibal country.
This defeat of the natives gave the expedition a few
days' rest, so that this first of the series of " Stanley's
falls," as they were named, could be thoroughly explor-
ed, not only for geographical purposes, but to ascertain
the best way of getting around them. He found that
the falls could not be run, and that a carry around them
some two miles long must be made. A path was clear-
ed with axes, and boat and canoes were taken from the
water and carried with great labor, yet safely, over-
land, and launched once more on the stream without
accident, and ha anchored in a creek near its entrance
into the main river. Not wishing to remain here, the
order to advance was given, and soon they were again
afloat on the great river. Sweeping downward they
heard the roar of another cataract, and, although the
war-horns were resounding on every side, encamped on an
island in the middle of the river. The hostile natives
on the island, filled with terror, escaped to the main-
land. In the morning Stanley explored the island, and
found it contained five villages, all now deserted — and
BEAUTIFUL [SLANDS.
407
in them such a variety of implements as showed that
the inhabitants were adepts in the manufacture of all
kinds of iron tools.
The river was full of islands, winding among which,
day after day, Stanley often found to be the only means
of escape from the pertinacious cannibals. They pre-
sented a beautiful appearance with their luxuriant
foliage, and occasionally was to be seen, the beautiful
striped antelope, and other animals, who would look
STBIPED ANTELOPE (FOUND ALONG THE CONGO).
on in wonderment at the flotilla of boats and then bound
away; but while the eye was resting on all this loveli-
ness, the ear would be saluted with the sound of war-
drums and hideous shouts. Whenever Stanley landed
and visited a village from which the inhabitants had
fled, he would see human bones scattered around, flung
26
408 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
aside like oyster-shells, after the meat was removed, and at
times the whole expedition felt as if they were destined
to make a grand luncheon for these ferocious man-eaters.
The next day Stanley began to make preparations to get
around the falls. The first thing was to clear himself
of the savages that crowned the left bank, and were
ready to pounce upon him at any moment. So taking
thirty-six men he led them through the bushes and
drove the natives back to their villages, a mile distant,
and after a desperate struggle, out of them. He next
cut a narrow path, three miles long, around the cataract.
This was slow work, and, as haste was imperative, the
men were kept at work all night, flaming torches light-
ing up the way and making the gloomy shadows of the
strange forest deeper still. Camps were distributed at
short intervals along the route, and to the first of these
the canoes were carried before daylight. The savages
made a rush on them but were driven back. At night
another stretch of path was made, to which the canoes
and baggage where hurried before the cannibals were
astir in the morning. There was less hostility and the
work went steadily on, and at last, after seventy-eight
hours of unwearied labour, and almost constant fighting,
the river was again reached and the boat launched.
This was January 14th, but though the river had been
reached new perils awaited them. There was a stretch
of two miles of rapids that must be passed. After six
canoes had been passed safely, one was upset, and one of
those in it, Zaidi, instead of swimming ashore, as the
others did, clung to it, and was borne helplessly down
to the cataract below. But on the very verge was a
solitary rock on which the boat drifted and split — one
part getting jammed fast. To this the poor wretch
clung with the strength of despair, while all around
leaped and whirled and roared the boiling water. Those
on shore shrieked in agony, and Stanley was hastily sent
for. He immediately set to work making a rattan rope,
in order to let down a boat to him by which he could
be pulled ashore. But the rope was not strong enough,
A PEEILOUS SITUATION. 409
and snapped asunder as soon as the boat reached the
heavy suck of water just above the falls, and it was
whirled into the vortex below. Other and stronger
ropes were then made, and another canoe brought up
and three ropes lashed to it. A couple of men would
be needed to paddle and steer the boat so that it could
reach the unfortunate wretch on his perilous perch, and
volunteers were called for. But one glance at the wild
and angry waves was enough, and no one responded.
Stanley then appealed to their feelings, when the brave
Uledi stepped forward and said, " I will go." Others of
the crew followed, but only one was needed. The two
stepped calmly into the boat and pushed off — watched
with intense anxiety by those on shore. Reaching a
certain distance above the falls, it drifted rapidly down
toward them, guided by those holding two of the cables
on shore. The third floated from the stern of the boat
for the poor wretch on the rock to seize. Attempt after
attempt was made to get this within Zaidi's reach, but
the whirling waters flung it about like a whip-lash. At
length the boat was lowered so close to the brink of the
falls that he was able to reach it, but no sooner had he
seized it and flung himself loose, than he was borne over
the edge and disappeared below. But he held on to the
rope and soon his head appeared above the boiling
waves, when the word was given to haul away. The
strain, however, was too great, and the cables parted and
away dashed the canoe toward certain destruction, and a
cry of horror arose from those on shore, for all three
now seemed inevitably lost. But Zaidi below, by hang-
ing on to the rope, pulled the boat against the rock
where it lay wedged. He was then pulled up, and the
three crouched together on the rock. A stone was now
tied to about three hundred feet of whipcord and flung
to them, but they failed to catch it. Again and again
was it thrown only to be pulled in and recast, but at
last it whirled so close to them that they caught it. A
heavy rope of rattan was then tied to it and drawn
across and fastened, and a bridge thus secured.
410 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
But this had taken so much time that night came on
before they could finish their work; the three wretched
men were left to crouch on the rock, and wait for the
morning. All night long they held on to their wild
perch, while the water rushed, and boiled, and roared
around them, and the deep thunder of the cataract ris-
ing in one deep monotone over all, so that they could
not hear each other speak.
The next morning early, the Arabs were set to work
making more ropes, which were finally hauled across,
and fastened round the waists of each man, and then,
one by one, they leaped into the water and were drawn
safely ashore, amid the shouts of the people.
They now set to work cutting a road three miles long
through the woods. Over this the canoes were, with
great labor, hauled before the savages on the farther side
knew what they were about. But the moment they
were afloat, they discovered them, and rushed forward
with their canoes, and the battle commenced. Stanley
dashed through them, and sweeping down stream for a
mile, landed on the island where the tribe lived, and
quietly detaching twenty men, sent them to the villages,
while he "kept the savages at bay. In a short time, the
detachment returned, bringing with them a crowd of
women and children as prisoners, and a large herd of
sheep. The savages, when they saw these marching
down to the landing place, were taken so completely
aback, that they stopped fighting at once, and withdrew
to consult what was best to do in this extraordinary
turn of affairs. They sat in their canoes, waiting to see
their friends massacred. Negotiations for peace were
soon opened and concluded, and the ceremony of blood-
brotherhood was gone through with, the captives and
herds were surrendered up, and friendly terms were
established.
The fifth cataract was at the foot of this island, and
was safely passed, and the expedition encamped on the
bank of the river, on a green plat of ground, an.,1 slept
undisturbed. In the morning, to their unbounded sur-
A FURIOUS ATTACK. 411
prise, they found themselves inclosed in a net of cord,
reaching from the shore above the camp, to the shore be-
low, passing through the bushes. Stanley knew what
this meant — that they were to be speared, when they
approached, like so many wild beasts. He at once
ordered one of the chiefs, Manwa Sera, to take thirty
men, and row up the river a short distance and land, and
march inland, and come up behind those lying in wait
outside of the net. At the end of an hour he ordered men
forward to cut the nets, when the firing commenced.
The savages soon turned and fled, but to their astonish-
ment, met the enemy advancing on them by the road
leading from their villages, and fled in every direction.
Eight prisoners were, however, captured, and brought
into camp. On being questioned, they confessed that
they were after man-meat, and said that their tribe,
which lived about a day's journey inland, eat old men
and women and every stranger that fell into their hands.
They now kept down the river for several miles un-
molested, and at length heard the sullen roar of the sixth
cataract rising over the woods, and camped on the
right bank, near an island covered with villages. Stan-
ley knew what was before him, and ordered a stockade
to be commenced immediately. But, before it was fin-
ished, the everlasting drum and horn pealed through
the woods, and soon the savages were upon them. After
a short fight, they retreated, followed by Stanley's sol-
diers, to a large village, but there were only three or four
old women in it, whom they brought into c«mp. In a
short time a heavier force approached and made a furious
attack, but were quickly driven back and two wounded
men taken prisoners. A part of the force was all this
time cutting a path around the cataract. The next
morning they set to work with a will, and by noon had
got safely around it. Stanley having wormed out of
his captives all the information he could of the surround-
ing country and the various tribes that inhabit it, set
them free. Passing some rapids, they came to a village,
in which there was but a single old man, solitary and
412 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF A.FRICA.
alone, and who had been there for several days. The
next day they halted to repair the boats. The persis-
tent course of the river, till within the last few days, to
the north, and sometimes north-east, had troubled Stan-
ley, and but for the immense volume of water that he
knew had no eastern outlet, would have shaken his faith
in its being the Congo. But, since he passed the last cata-
ract he noticed that it gradually deflected to the north-
west, and now swept by almost due west, having evi-
dently at last started on its march for the sea. Long
islands still divided the river, making, most of the time,
two streams and shutting out the opposite banks. Keep-
ing down the right channel, they passed through en-
chanting scenery, undisturbed by war-drums and savage
shouts. Though the water was smooth on their side,
over the island, on the other, they could hear the roar
of rapids, and a few miles farther down the loud roar of
the seventh and last cataract of the " Stanley falls" burst
on their ears, filling the solitude with its loud thunder.
The river here was over a mile wide, and the fall of such
an immense body of water over a high ledge made the
earth fairly tremble.
It was one incessant fight, either with the savages or
with nature, and it seemed as if fate was determined to
wear out these indomitable men. Soon the loud war-
drums, and horns, and battle-shouts were mingled with
the roar of the cataract, showing them that here, too,
they must fight before they could get below it. Drop-
ping down^s near as it was safe to the commencement
of the rapids, they pulled ashore and pitched their camp
in a dense forest. Fearful of being attacked before they
could intrench, they immediately set to work with cheir
axes to throw together a brushwood fence, while thirty
soldiers were stationed in front toward the river, to re-
pel any assault. They had hardly got it completed be-
fore the naked cannibals were upon them with a fury
that threatened to break through their defences. All
this time out from the woods, adown the gorge through
which the river plunged, war-drums and horns were
MYSTERIOUS DESERTION. 413
heard summoning the thickly-scattered villages to the
scene of combat. Before the steady fire of the musket-
eers the savages suffered so severely that at sunset they
abandoned the attack and withdrew. Stanley now
secured his boats and strengthened the brushwood fence,
and laid his plans for the morning.
The camp was roused at five o'clock, and they pushed
on to a point nearer the falls, so that the work of carry-
ing around them was completed before the Wangas were
upon them. Everything being made secure here, they
waited for the expected attack to begin, but no enemy
appearing, Stanley sent out scouts to ascertain what
they were about. They brought back word that no sav-
ages were to be seen. On advancing to the villages,
Stanley found to his astonishment that they were all
deserted. Why or whither they had fled was a pro-
found mystery. Here was a town or cluster of villages,
each with four or five streets running through it, and
capable of containing two thousand inhabitants, deserted
in a single night. The silence of death reigned over it.
Left thus at peace, he began to turn his attention to
the falls. He found the river here in this terrific gorge
was contracted to less than one-third of its breadth a
short distance above, and hence flowed with a power
and strength that can hardly be conceived. Crowded
together, the waters struggled and leaped, and tore on-
ward with a wildness and fury like the Niagara Biver
below the falls. He here found baskets tied to long
poles set to catch fish. They emptied some of these,
and found in them about thirty fish, of a different species
from any known in our waters, showing that they had
got among savages that did not wholly depend on
human flesh for subsistence in the way of meat. They
showed, also, in their villages and houses, and various
implements and articles of household furniture, that
they were in advance of the cannibals above them. At
the same time, they seemed more alert, fearless and de-
termined.
The carry around these falls was not interrupted, and
414 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the immense labor of transporting so many boats and
so much baggage along a rough-cut path was cheerfully
performed. The next day, however, while congratu-
lating themselves on the changed conditions of things,
they saw a large number of canoes approaching, and
soon a musket-shot rang over the water, and one of
Stanley's men fell. A new peril now threatened them
— they found the natives armed with Portuguese musk-
ets. Though it was a sure sign that they were ap-
proaching the coast, it showed, also, that hereafter it
was to be fire-arms against fire-arms, not rifles against
spears and arrows; and if the natives continued hostile,
the destruction of the expedition seemed certain with
such odds against it. Heretofore in every combat the
men picked up a number of native shields, almost as big
as doors, which they preserved. In battle, the women and
children would hold these before the soldiers, which was
the chief reason why there had been so few casualties
when fighting from the boats; but if bullets hereafter
were to be fired, these would be of no use. Still there
was nothing left but to fight to the last.
This changed condition of things caused Stanley the
greatest anxiety, He, however, formed his boats in line
of battle and the firing commenced — the natives after
every discharge retiring to reload. Stanley's soldiers fired
so rapidly, and with such deadly effect, that after an
hour had passed the natives withdrew, and the expedi-
tion moved off and was soon lost to sight amid the in-
numerable islands that studded the river — each one
loaded with the most luxuriant vegetation.
The next day they floated down the river undisturb-
ed— the islands growing thicker as it expanded,, being
now several miles wide. On one of them they saw an im-
mense elephant standing amid the trees, but -no one pro-
posed to stop and kill him, though his huge tusks were a
tempting sight, and further on a large tiger; there was
too much at stake to think of hunting them, or the great
crocodiles, hippopotami, and other amphibious monsters,
who make the channels around these islands their home.
A SHORT SPEECH.
415
The next day, the 13th of February, they suddenly
came upon a large number of villages. They were hid-
den from view, till they were so close upon them, it was
too late to retreat. The next minute the forest resounded
with the loud war-drums and ivory horns, while the
fierce war-cries had changed their character and sound
ed like nothing human Stanley had ever heard. Brigh
gun-barrels gleamed above the light, graceful boats a°
they came swiftly on. But as they drew near, the nau
tives seemed to be filled with such strange wonder a
AFRICAN TIGEB.
the novel spectacle of two white men, that they did not
fire, but sat and stared at them as if they had been
ghosts. They followed them for five miles in dead
silence, when one of them fired and killed an Arab. In
an instant, the boats wheeled and opened such a rapid
fire, that the savages retreated. But, when Stanley
again resumed his downward course, they turned and
followed after, hovering like hawks around him for five
miles, bat making no attack.
They were now just above the equator, and were mov-
ing south-west. ' The next morning the islands were so
416 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
thick that they shut out both banks, but keeping on
down stream they at length came upon a village, and at-
tempted to pass it unobserved, but the tap of a drum
showed that they were observed, and their hearts sunk
within them at the prospect of another fight. In a few
minutes drum was answering drum in every direction,
and soon the savages were seen manning their canoes.
Stanley, seeing his men were worn down by this inces-
sant fighting, made them a short speech, telling them if
they must die it would be with their guns in their
hands. He had come to have a great contempt for the
natives on the water so long as they were without fire-
arms. He could soon scatter them and keep them at a
respectful distance with his rifles, but when it should be
five hundred muskets against his forty guns, the whole
character of the struggle would be changed.
As they quietly floated down, canoe after canoe shot
out into the river with gayly-decorated savages, till a
whole fleet of them were in pursuit. Stanley ordered
his men to cease paddling and wait their approach, de-
termined, if possible, to make peace. But while he was
standing up holding out cloth and wire and making
peaceful gestures, the crew of one canoe fired into his
boat wounding three men.
There was nothing left now to do but to fight, and
soon the crash of fire-arms awoke the echoes of the
forest-covered shores. The men had raised their shields,
and to their joy found them a perfect protection, as the
enemy fired bits of iron and copper, that could not
penetrate them any more than the native arrows. As
the fight went on, other canoes arrived, until Stanley
counted sixty-three canoes, which he estimated carried
five guns apiece, which would make three hundred and
fifteen to his forty-four — a desperate odds, and if they
had been loaded with bullets, would have doubtless
then and there ended the expedition. It is a little curi-
ous that whenever Stanley gets into a desperate strait
that even his boldness and pluck cannot help him out of,
some unforeseen thing comes to his aid, and he escapes.
KEARLY HALF-STARVED. 417
In this case, his rifles having so much longer range
and greater penetrating force than these old-fashioned
muskets, most of the enemy kept at a distance of a
hundred yards. One brave felJow, however, kept dash-
ing up to within fifty yards, and firing, till he was
wounded. It was a lucky thing for Stanley that their
guns were poor, their cartridges feeble and their aim
bad. At length the fire began to slacken, and dwindling
down to now and then a random shot, before six o'clock
ceased altogether.
The fight being over, the men laid down their guns
and once more took up their paddles and soon were
out of sight of their enemies, and at sunset camped on an
island that lay amidst a nest of islets. Mr. Stanley
says: "We clung to the island channels for four days
longer, unseen by any of the natives, for the river was
very wide — between nine and ten miles. At a place
called Ikengo, a great trading people, we found friends.
We made* blood brotherhood with many kings and col-
lected a vast deal of information. This tribe was one of
the cleverest and most friendly of any we had seen.
We halted thre3 days with them. We met no armed
force to oppose us in the river below Ikengo, though a
few canoes indulged in the customary little distractions
of savage life by firing iron slugs at strangers; but, as no
one was hurt, we permitted them to have their pleasures
without regarding them. In the words of a dry humorist
— one of our soldiers — 'We ate more iron then grain.' "
It now began to look as if after having escaped death
by battle and the cataracts, they were about to yield to
famine. They met fishermen, but they would have
nothing to do with them. The next day Stanley held a
market on the island, where he had encamped, to which
the neighboring chiefs came, as well as the villagers.
Trade was brisk, and before night he had a bountiful
supply of sheep, goats, bananas, flour, sweet potatoes and
various tropical fruits, for which he exchanged cloth, and
beads, and wire. The men revelled in the unexpected
abundance, and hope and joy again took the place of
418 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
gloom and discontent. The next day they resumed their
apparently endless journey, and floated peacefully amid
green islands, scattered like gems over the broad bosom
of the now friendly stream.
On the 23rd, while floating quietly down, word was
brought Stanley that the wife of one of the Arab chiefs,
who had been sick for some time, was dying, and he
pulled his boat alongside of the one in which she lajT.
She knew she was going, and bade him an affectionate
good-bye. Soon after she expired. At suuset a weight
was tied to her bod}7", and she was dropped into the
waters of the river, and left to sleep on its lonely bed,
far away from the cocoa-nuts and mangoes of her native
land.
Their course now led them among beautiful islets,
made gay by the rich plumage of tropical birds, oc-
casionally meeting a few canoes, but no hostility was
exhibited.
On the 27th, they came upon natives fishing, who at
once showed themselves to be friendly, and exhibited no
distrust at all. It was a new revelation to the wander-
ers. Hitherto, after the most patient waiting and per-
severing efforts, could they gain the confidence of the
savages if they secured it at all ; while here it was freely
given, and they directed them to a good camping place,
on an island from whence they looked across to the fields
and villages of Chumbiri, where these fishermen be-
longed. The fishermen then departed, to report to their
king, who sent them back with presents of food, and a
promise that he would visit the camp. True to his word,
he appeared next day, escorted by five canoes filled with
soldiers, carrying muskets. He wore a curious hat, was
very cool and self-possessed in his manner, and inclined
to be sociable. He took snuff incessantly, and in en-
ormous quantities. After a long conversation, he invited
them to make his village their home, and Stanley, wish-
ing to learn all he could of the river below, accepted the
invitation, and the expedition crossed the river, and was
received in savage pomp. A grand market was held,
A COMPLETE SUBPRISE. 419
and exchanges freely made. The -women did not seem
to be of the pure African blood, being brown instead of
black, with large eyes, beautifully shaped shoulders, and
altogether very pretty. They were very fond of orna-
ments, some of them wearing thirty pounds of brass
wire around their necks. Stanley estimated that the
forty wives, six daughters and the female slaves of the
king carried on their necks about one thousand four hun-
dred pounds of brass wire.
He stayed here a week, enjoying the hospitality of
the king, who. to all his other kindness, gave him three
canoes, as an escort, and on the 7th of March turned the
prows of his boats again down stream. That night they
encamped in a jungle, into which two immense serpents
crawled, one of which was killed just as he began to
twine his folds about a woman. It measured thirteen
feet and a half in length, and fifteen inches round the
body. The next day passing tributary after tributary
they, on the 9th, went ashore to cook breakfast ; the
women were busily engaged in preparing it, when they
were startled by loud musket shots, and six of the men
fell. They were taken completely by surprise, but
springing to their guns, they dashed into the woods, and
a fierce fight followed, which lasted an hour. It was
one incessant crack of musketry, each one sheltering
himself as best he could. The savages were finally
driven off, but not until they had wounded fourteen of
Stanley's men. This was the sharpest fight he had had
yet, and if it was a prelude to what was to follow, the
expedition would soon consist of nothing but wounded
men. It is astonishing, that in all these fights, of which
this was the thirty-second, and last, neither Stanley nor
Pocoke should receive a wound.
After the wounded men had been attended to, they
again set out and floated peacefully down, not suspect-
ing any danger, when they approached a settlement
which suddenly swarmed with excited armed men.
Rowing away as fast as possible, they soon got clear of
the village, and encamped three miles below. The next
420 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
day the voyage was charming, taking them through
beautiful and ever-changing scenery. Nothing occurred
to mar their pleasure the following day except a fierce
south wind, which now began to set in regularly every
day, making the river exceedingly rough for the canoes
— especially at this point, where the river expanded to
nearly two miles in width. This great breadth extended
as far as the eye could reach, and, hemmed in by cliffs,
resembled a pool, which young Pocoke christened " Stan-
ley Pool."
Paddling slowly down this pool, they passed several
villages. Makoneh, the chief of one, proved veiy kind
and hospitable, and offered to conduct Stanley to the
next cataract. As they swept down, they halted at a
friendly village, the chief of which inquired how they
expected to get over the mighty falls below. He was a
bluff, genial, good-souled negro, who seemed glad to as-
sist them in any way in his power, and finally offered
to guide them to the cataract. Moving down, soon its
low roar was heard swelling over the forest, gradually
increasing as they advanced, till it rose like a continuous
thunder-peal from the solitude below.
Makoneh led the way, and, just skirting the first line
of breakers,, landed on a pebbly beach. The village of
Itsi was in sight, who was the petty king of a neighbor-
ing tribe. Some canoes soon crossed from it. and were
received so kindly that the natives went back with such
wonderful stories to their king, that next day he paid
Stanley a visit. He came in a large canoe carrying
eighty-six persons. It was over eighty-five feet long,
and propelled by sixty paddlers. These, standing up
and keeping time with their strokes to the steady beat
of a drum, sent the boat like an arrow through the water,
and made a stirring picture as they dashed up to Stan-
ley's camp. There were several gray-headed men pres-
ent, one of whom was introduced to Stanley as the king.
The latter noticed that the rest laughed heartily at this,
which afterwards turned out to be a practical joke.
However, Stanley sat down with the venerable person
THE BIG GOAT. 421
in amicable conversation, while a young native and
Frank seemed to strike up a warm friendship for each
other, or at least the native for Pocoke, judging by the
way he pressed presents on him.
It seemed strange to Stanley that the young savage
should give twice as much to Frank as the king gave to
him, but it now came out that this young man was the
king, and the aged man Stanley had been conversing
with, one of his counselors. Stanley at once changed
his attention, and asked him what present would please
him. The royal young savage had been looking about
at the various things in camp, and seeing a very large
goat, told Stanley that he wished " big goat." Now
this happened to be the last thing the latter wished to
part with. A lady in England had requested him to
bring back a goat of this very breed, and he had pur-
chased several, of which this alone had survived the long
and dangerous journey. He therefore endeavored to
bribe the young king by doubling the other presents he
had prepared. No, he would have the " big goat."
Stanley then offered to give him an ass instead. At this
the savage seemed to hesitate. The donkey was very
desirable, but at this critical moment the animal sent up
a huge bray, which so frightened the women, that he
would not take him. Other tempting offers were made
but nothing would do but the " big goat," and as Stan-
ley was short of provisions (the men having squandered
those the king of Chumbiri had given them), and these
he must have, he reluctantly turned over the big goat,
and the young king departed higly delighted. The next
day he returned bringing three ordinary goats in ex-
change and some provisions. Soon the kings or chiefs
of other neighboring tribes came in bringing fruit, and
all was harmonious, and treaties of amity were made
with all. The one with Itsi was quite ceremonious.
Among other things he gave Stanley a white powder as
a charm against evil, in return for which, the latter,
with all due gravity, presented him with a half-ounce
vial full of magnesia as the white man's charm. This
422 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
and blood-brotherhood closed the formal proceedings of
the tre .ty-making powers — quite as important, in their
way, as similar councils in civilized countries.
Stanley found by observation that though he had
traveled from Nyangwe over one thousand two hundred
miles, he had descended not quite a thousand feet.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Tribal differences — What is the cause of them — The Congro Tribes —
The cannibals left behind — Change of scenery — Living>tone Falls —
A wild stretch of water — Carrying boats over land - Exhausting,
slow work— A canoe lost — Stanley falls thirty feet — Rocky falls— A
fearful sight — Kalulu over the falls — A canoe shoots the Kalulu
Falls in safety — A third canoe shoots the falls and disappears —
Soudi's strange story — More rapids — Difficulties increase — Narrow
escape of Stanley — Joy at his deliverance — ;Four cataracts in sight
— Strange music — Less than a mile a day — The big cataract —
Scaling a mountain one thousand feet high — Astonishment of the
natives.
IT is a little singular, that in this age of inquiry and
persistent effort to get at the cause of things, no one
has yet attempted to explain the reason of tribal differ-
ences. Aborigines occupy the same parallels of
latitude and longitude, subject to the same influences of
climate, living on the same diet, are different in color,
features, and more than all, in disposition. The real, or
supposed influences, that lie at the bottom of the differ-
ent races, do not apply here. Difference of origin, of
climate, of food, all these must have great effect in
changing color, features and character, and hence, to a
certain extent, explain how such distinct nationalities
exist, but not in the least account for tribal differences,
where all these are the same, and where there are not
even barriers of mountains and rivers separating them.
Why should our western Indian tribes, roaming over the
same prairies, living on the same food, and similar in all
their mode of life, be yet so different in form, feature and
disposition ?
TRIBAL DIFFERENCES. 423
Is there really no way of getting a satisfactory, true
explanation of all this ?
So in Africa, Stanley crossed the continent in the
same general range of latitude. The savages he met
were all dwellers of the equatorial region ; hence, lived
in the same climate, using the same food, dressing in the
same way, and living the same life, and yet as dissimi-
lar as different nationalities. If any educational in-
fluences had been brought to bear upon them, one could
understand this, but none have been exerted. These
same tribal differences Stanley found on the Congo.
Fierce cannibals and gentle agricultural people were
living side by side. Suspicious, faithless men, differing
very little from the better class of monkeys, lived neigh-
bours to tribes unsuspicious and trustful, and wonder-
fully advanced in the art of mechanism. Here at the
falls, which he named " Stanley Falls," the natives were
suspicious, faithless, cruel, and now when he reaches the
Livingstone Falls, he finds them hospitable, kind and
trusting. When this difference bursts on him practi-
cally, he feels it sensibly, but philosophically dismisses
it with the simple remark, such " is the effect of trade." (
We cannot accept this as any explanation at all, for
there was no trade with the outside world, and they
showed the same kindly natures before he commenced
trading with them.
The only evidence of their connection with civilised
life was that they had muskets, and yet the very first
tribe which possessed them was the most fierce, impla-
cable and relentless he met with. This ethnological
question has never yet been settled.
Still it is not singular that Stanley just then did not
trouble himself with it. As long as the difference exist-
ed and was now in his favor he was content, as well he
might be.
The friendly natives at the head of these falls assured
him that he had passed the cannibal country, but they
differed materially as to the number of falls below — one
making them three and another a half a dozen or more.
27
424 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
No matter whether they were few or many, they had
got to be passed, though he dragged his canoes over
lofty mountains to do it.
But if the change in the character of the natives was
great, that in the character of the scenery and aspect of
the river was no less so. The wild, fierce savages had
become tame, while the gently flowing river, studded
with green islands, had become wild and fierce and
angry. The gradually descending plain was transform-
ed into the terrific gorge, over which hung beetling
cliffs, and the placid current into a roaring torrent, dish-
ing amid rocks and plunging over precipices, and filling
the solitudes with an every-angry voice. Hostile sav-
ages were behind, but hostile nature was before the ad-
venturers, to whom there would be no rest till they
found the restless sea.
Immediately before them were two stretches of rapids
and then a cataract. The first was a mere piece of
broken water that was easily passed. Having no fear
of hostile natives, Stanley leisurely explored both river
and shore to ascertain the best way of getting around the
*second rapids. The goods, asse^, women and children
were taken overland, while the boats were led with
hawsers from rock to rock along the shore. Fortunate-
ly not a rope broke, and by five o'clock the rapids were
passed and all were in camp together.
The last, Stanley declared to be the wildest stretch of
water he had ever seen. For four miles the river look-
ed as if thrown upward by volcanic action beneath, and
at the same time swept by a fierce hurricane above, and
all the while dashing madly on at the rate of thirty
miles an hour. Huge troughs would be formed, as if the
stream was yawning asunder, and then the divided water
would come together with a crash, sending up columns
twenty feat high to dissolve in foam and spray. The
crash of colliding waves and the steady roar of the
rapids were awful. It was literally a "hell of waters."
The land carriage around this wild stretch was a rough
piece of work. Paths of brushwood were made, and
MORE UGLY RAPIDS. 425
the canoes slowly hauled up rocky heights and slid
down into deep gullies — the women and children toiling
after. They were nearly four days getting around this
four miles of impassable rapids. The men were faint-
ing for want of food, when smooth water was at last
reached. This, however, continued but a short distance,
when they had to take to land again, and haul their
boats over a rocky point for three-quarters of a mile,
which it took three days to accomplish. When it is re-
membered that one of the canoes was eighty-five, and
another seventy-five feet long and dug out of a solid
tree, we can get some conception of the tremendous
effort it required to transport them over rocks and hills.
When smooth water was again reached, it gave them
only a short respite. Stanley, however, found it neces-
sary to halt and give the people rest, for the tremen-
dous strain of the last week was telling fearfully on
them.
On the 25th they found themselves once more con-
fronted by ugly rapids. In endeavoring to lead the
boats around them, the best canoe was dragged by the
mere force of the current from the hands of fifty men
and whirled down the mad stream and dashed to pieces.
Toiling amid the rocks several men got injured — one
had his shoulder dislocated, while Stanley fell into a
chasm thirty feet deep, but fortunately struck on his
feet, and thus escaped with some light bruises, though
he was very much stunned. On the 27th they succeed-
Qd in getting past this " cauldron," as it was called,
although they narrowly escaped losing their largest
canoe. The next day was smooth water for only a short
distance, when they came to " Rocky Falls." These,
however, were passed with comparative ease, and two
men sent forward to explore. They reported, on their
return, that about a mile below was another cataract,
and that at its head was an excellent camp in a sandy
bay. Stanley, therefore, determined to reach it before
dark, and so manning his remaining seventeen canoes,
he led the way, hugging the shore, so as not to get into
426 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the suction of the water above the falls. All were told
to follow him, and by no means to venture out into the
middle of the stream. Keeping close to the right bank,
he felt his way carefully onward, and at last floated in-
to the tranquil bay, at the head of the fall. Three
canoes followed him, and as he was waiting for the
others to come in, he saw, to his horror, the largest
canoe he had, in midstream, and coming down like a
race-horse. Kalulu had charge of this, and deceived by
the smooth, glassy surface of the stream, pulled out into
midcurrent. The moment he was caught by it his
doom and that of the four men with him was sealed.
There was nothing to be done by those on shore but to
watch the swiftly gliding boat till it shot over the edge
of the falls to disappear in the tumult below. Three of
the men were Stanley's especial favorites, and he felt
their loss keenly. While his eye was yet resting on the
spot where they had gone down, another canoe shot in
sight, driving straight for the falls. Fortunately, they
struck them at the least dangerous point, and w"ent
over safely, then skilfully working the canoe toward
the opposite shore, sprang overboard and swam to land.
Stanley immediately dispatched his boat's crew up-
stream to tell the rest to hug the shore, and in no case
venture out into the stream. Before they reached the
canoes, another one, with only the lad Soudi in it,
shot by, who cried out, as he was borne swiftly onward,
" There is but one God — I am lost, master," and next
moment dropped out of sight. Strange to say,
though the canoe was whirled about at the
bottom like a spinning top, it did not sink, and was
finally swept out of sight behind an island. The rest of
the canoes arrived safely.
The next day Stanley sent Frank back to bring over
the goods to where he was encamped, while he traded
with the natives, whom he found very friendly, and from
whom he obtained abundant provisions. Resting here
one day, they, on the 1st of April, got everything round
the falls and encamped. In the afternoon, to the sur-
A STRANGE STORY. 427
prise and joy of all, young Soudi walked into camp.
He had a strange story to tell. He was*borne helpless-
ly down the rapids, confused and dizzy, till at last the
boat drifted against a rock, when he jumped out and
got on shore. Before he had time to think where he
was, he was seized from behind and pinioned, and borne
to the top of a mountain by two men, who stripped and
examined him with great curiosity. The next day several
of the tribe came to see him, one of whom had been in
Stanley's camp when King Itsi visited it, and he told
them such terrible stories about Stanley and of his gun
that could shoot all day, that they became frightened
and took him back to the place where they had found
him, and told him to speak well of them. The other
two men had swam across the river, a mile below, and
also joined the camp.
Proceeding on down stream they came to more rapids,
in passing which there were many narrow escapes. It
was a succession of rapids, and while Stanley carried the
boats through them, Frank took the rest of the party and
goods overland. The former examined every inch of the
way carefully before starting. Thus day after day passed,
always fighting the relentless river. Sometimes the water
was too rough to admit the passage of the boats, and then
they had to be carried overland. It was slow and tedious
work,and but little progress was made. The question each
one kept asking himself was, how long will this last
and when shall we see smooth water again ?
Each day was but the repetition of the former, and if
the natives had been as hostile as those farther up the
river, they could not have got on at all. The only
variation was when the river took some new whim or
the formation of the country required more effort and
new modes of getting on. Thus one day they under-
took to lead the canoes by hawsers around a rocky
point, where the eddies set up stream with the strength
and velocity of a torrent, so that it seemed impossible
to get them down stream. To add to the difficulty the
cliffs, on the top of which the men with the hawsers
428 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
stood, were fifty feet high, with their jagged edges,
sawed the ropes till they parted one after another.
So creeping along the shore to-day, and daring the
mid-stream, though boisterous, yet clear of rocks, to-
morrow, they kept on, hoping after the next stretch to
reach a quiet flowing river. The Lady Alice fared hard
in this perilous navigation, and once came near being
lost. All this time the resources of the expedition were
being exhausted, for though the natives were friendly,
everything had to be paid for, and it was not difficult to
answer the question "How long would their currency
last ? "
The next rapids they came to Stanley named the
" Lady Alice Rapids," because we- suppose both he and
the boat escaped, almost by a miracle, sharing the same
fate in the wild and mad waters of the Livingstone.
The cables lashed to bow and stern, to let the boat down,
parted, or were snatched from the hands on shore, and
away she dashed down the foaming torrent. Above,
the naked cliffs rose three hundred feet high — around
boiled and tossed the tumultuous waters, and certain
destruction seemed to await the man who had triumphed
over so many obstacles, and at last was nearing the goal
of his ambition. The Arabs, whose life depended on his
life, were in despair — their master was gone — there was
no one left to lead them out of this strange wilderness.
Nothing but the coolness of Stanley saved him and his
crew. Watching every change in the flow of the water
— resigning himself to the wild will of the wild waters,
when struggling was useless — taking advantage of every
favorable change of the current, and bidding his men
row for life at the right time, he at length reached shore,
and at once sent messengers to his despairing camp to
tell them he was safe. He knew, and they knew, that
all their lives hung on his. He had had a narrow
escape, and the natives on shore, as they watched his
boat flung about like a cockle-shell in the boiling surge,
looked upon him as lost.
If Stanley wanted any new proof of the affection of
AN OUTBURST OF GRATITUDE. 429
his Arabs for him he had it now. He had been only
able, after his fierce struggle with the rapids, and being
carried, in the meantime, over one fall, to reach land at
last two miles below his camp, where he was looked
upon as lost. When, therefore, the message was re-
ceived from him that he was alive arid safe, they
streamed forth in one confused mass, and hastening
down the river, came in a long straggling line in sight
of Stanley, waving their arms on high, shouting words
of welcome and overwhelming him with their expres-
sions of glad joy. This involuntary outburst of feeling
and gratitute that their "master" was safe, was worth
tenfold over all the suffering and peril he had endured.
It is strange, when such momentous results hang on a
single life, how we go on as though nothing depended
upon it till the moment we are losing it comes.
The men, women, and children had joined in this
grand exodus to congratulate Stanley on his deliverance
from what appeared certain death, and the men now
returned to bring up the goods to this point where the
camp was pitched. Not twenty rods from it the
Nikenke River came foaming, tumbling into the Living-
stone from a precipice one thousand feet high, with a
terrific joar and rumble. Almost as near, another tribu-
tary dashed over a ledge four hundred feet high, while
just above was the wild rapids he had just passed, and
just below another stretch of swift and tumbling water.
The din of these surrounding cataracts made a fearful,
strange music in these mysterious solitudes, and
awakened strange feelings in Stanley, as he lay and
listened and wondered what would come next,
The sharp crash of the near cataract tumbling from
its height of a thousand feet, the low rumble of the lower
fall, and the deep boom of the mighty river made a grand
diapason there in the wilds of Central Africa. West
from the great lakes, the continent seemed to stretch in
one vast plateau, across which the river moved in placid
strength, its gently sweeping current, parted with
beautiful islands, that filled the air with perfume ex-
430 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
haled from countless flowers and tropical plants, and
making a scene of loveliness that intoxicated the senses.
But all this was marred by the presence of blood-
thirsty cannibals, whose war-drums and savage cries
filled this world of beauty with terrific sounds and
nameless fears. But the moment the stream reached
the edge of this plateau, where man seemed to become
more human, it rolled into cataracts and rapids, down a
steep incline, till it came to the sea.
Canoes were upset and lost, and men barely saved
from death, by expert swimming, during these fearful
days, and yet Stanley could get no reliable information
from the natives how 'far down this remorseless stretch
of water extended. This terrible struggle, which the
party underwent, and the exhausting nature of their
work may be faintly imagined when it is stated that for
thirty-seven consecutive days they made less than a
mile a day. It was a constant succession of rapids
from the middle of March to the latter part of April.
At length, on the 22d, they came to the " big cata-
ract," called by the natives Inkisi, which Stanley fondly
believed would be the last. The table-land here is one
thousand feet high, and the natives occupying it flocked
into Stanley's camp, curious to know how he was to
get his canoes past the falls. When he told them that
he was going to drag them over that table-land one
thousand feet high, they looked at him in speechless
astonishment. His own men were thunderstruck when
he announced to them his determination. But they
had got so accustomed to believe that he could do any-
thing he resolved to do, that they silently acquiesced.
The natives, as they looked at the heavy canoes and
then on the lofty height, with its steep, craggy ascent,
took their departure and began to climb back to their
homes to secure their property, for, they said, if the
white man intended to fly his boats over the mountains,
they did not know what terrible things might next
happen.
Having settled on the undertaking, Stanley imme-
FAVORABLE EVIDENCES. 431
diately set to work to carry it out, and the first day
built a road nearly a mile long. The next day the Lady
Alice and a small canoe were resting on the high sum-
mit. The work was done so quietly and without any
disastrous results to life and property, that the native
chiefs were dumb with admiration and offered to bring
six hundred men next day to help haul up the heavy
canoes. They kept their word, and soon boats and
baggage were in camp on the top of the mountain.
Sending off a party ten miles ahead to prepare the na-
tives for his coming, Stanley took the women and
children, and goods and boat's crew on to the next tribe
to make a camp near the river, for the purpose of ex-
ploring the defile through which he was to work his
way.
He had found many articles of English make, and
dishes, etc., among the natives, showing that he was
approaching the coast from which these must have been
obtained. They had not, however, been brought there
by traders, but had worked their way up from market
to market along the river. It was encouraging, never-
theless, to the members of the expedition, who were
getting worn out, while disease prevailed to a large ex-
tent and threatened to increase. Still they might be a
great way off from the coast yet, in time if not in dis-
tance, if they continued to make but one mile a day.
Hence Stanley had to be very economical in everything,
especially in the use of meat — though the constant and
terrible mental and physical strain on him made it
necessary that he should have the most nourishing food.
For lack of this in a simple form, he concocted a dish
out of vegetables, fruit and oil, which proved a great
success.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Last instructions — A magnificent forest — Stanley thinks of dug-outs at
home — Resolves to build canoes — The first tree felled — Two canoes
finished — The boats and expedition moving overland — Arabs steal-
ing— Redeeming a captive held for theft — Canoes over the moun-
tain— Rest — Third canoe built — Dispiriting news — Nat;ve supersti-
tion— A narrow escape — Launching of tiie third canoe — Kains —
Rise of the river — Storms — The expedition moves over the moun-
tain— Frank takes the canoes by the river — Mowwa Fulls — A terrific
scene — Passing the Mowwa Fulls — Uledi caught in theft — His M n-
tence — A touching scene — Atonement — Forgiveness — Christian
principles in heathens — A strange superstition — The natives de-
mand that Stanley's note-book be burned up — A painful dilemma —
A successful stratagem — Shakespeare burned — Frank's last night
with Stanley.
IT was the 29th of April when Stanley gave his last
instructions to his Arab chiefs about getting the
canoes down the mountain to Nzabi, the home of the
next tribe west. On his way he entered a magnificent
forest — the tall and shapely trees of which reminding
him of his early wanderings in the wilds of Arkansas
and on our western frontiers. It was not strange, while
looking at them, that he should be reminded of the
"dug-outs" of the Indians which he had often seen, and
that the thought should occur to him to make some
canoes, to take the place of those which he had lost in
the passage of the rapids and falls above. It seems as
if his early life had prepared him especially for all the
contingencies that were to occur in his long and varied
explorations in Africa. After thinking the matter over
a short time, he resolved that the boats should be built,
and having obtained permission of the chief of the dis-
trict, he at once commenced operations. The first tree
selected was more than three feet in diameter and run
sixty feet straight before it reached a limb. As soon as
it was prone upon the ground the men were set to work
in sections upon it, and in a week had it finished. In a
week more another was completed, measuring forty-
482
PROPENSITY TO STEAL. 433
five feet in length and eighteen inches deep. All this
time the canoes were advancing over the land at the
rate of a little more than a third of a mile a day, and
finally reached camp the day before the second boat was
finished.
Things, however, had gone badly in the camp on the
mountain-top after Stanley left, for the Arabs, following
their apparently natural propensity, began to steal.
One man, who had been caught in the act, was seized
and made a prisoner by the natives, who resolved to
keep him as a slave. Stanley spent an entire day
negotiating for his redemption, and finally had to give
one hundred and fifty dollars worth of cloth to get him
released. It was plain that he could not afford to re-
deem many men at this price, and he distinctly told them
that if, after this, any of them were caught stealing,
they would be left in the hands of the natives, to be
held as slaves for life. A terrible punishment, yet, as it
proved, not great enough to deter them from committing
the same crime afterwards.
The labour of the men engaged in hauling the canoes
over the high mountain had been so great, that Stanley
felt that some days of rest were demanded to recuper-
ate them. But as idleness was always the fruitful
source of all kinds of evil with the Arabs, be deter-
mined to keep the men who had hewed out the boats
still at work, and set them to making a third canoe.
The chief of this district now informed Stanley, great-
ly to his surprise and disappointment, that there were
five falls immediately below him, while how many lay
between these and the sea no one could tell. No mat-
ter; he must still move on, and, for the present, cling to
the river on account of the sick, if for nothing else.
On the 18th, he sent off a man to get some axes re-
paired by a native blacksmith. While the latter was
engaged in the work, a spark flew from the anvil against
the body of one of his children playing near by, burn-
ing him slightly. The enraged man asserted that the
accident was owing to a wicked charm of the stranger,
434 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
and, running out, beat the war-drum, at which the ex-
cited natives assembled in a great fury, and the poor
Arab was in danger of immediate immolation, when the
chief happened to arrive and saved him.
On May 22d, the great teak canoe, the third which
had been built, and which Stanley named Livingstone,
was launched in the creek just above its entrance into
the river, amid the shouts of the natives. It could carry
forty-six people. As far as means of transportation was
concerned, Stanley was now at ease — but would there
ever be a peaceful river on which these twelve canoes
could float ?
It was now the 22d of May, and since the 24th of
February there had been forty rainy days, and hence
for the month they had been working their slow,
tedious way over . the ridges and mountains, the river
had been continually rising, and now, more than eleven
feet above its usual height, was rolling in a grand, re-
sistless flood through the gorges. Thunder and light-
ning had accompanied the storms, lighting up the wild
river and drowning its fierce roar, and drenching the
wanderers, till it seemed as if heaven itself was leagued
with the natives and the cataracts to drive them to des-
pair and destruction. The river was still rising, and the
rush and roar of the waters were only less terrific than
the deafening thunder-peals that shook the chasm in
which they were confined. Still they must move on,
even though it should be to greater horrors and more
desperate conditions and a darker fate. So on the 23d
of May they set out, and carrying around a short fall in
the creek on the banks of which they had been en-
camping, and ascending a mountain, pushed slowly on
for three miles over a plateau — the sick and suffering
complaining bitterly, while the well were almost ready
to give out and die then and there on the shores of the
river. Every fall was expected to be the last, and yet
proved the forerunner of a worse one to come.
From this creek Stanley led the expedition — those
that could walk — to the head of the Mowwa Falls.
SURVEYING A TERRIFIC SCENE. 435
Frank, whose lame foot did not permit him to walk,
took the Lady Alice, followed by the canoes, out of the
mouth of the creek, to coast carefully along down the
river to the same camping-place. In the meantime,
Stanley, who had arrived first, took a long and anxious
survey of the terrific scene before him. At the head of
the falls, where he stood on a grassy plot, a ledge of
rock twelve feel high ran straight across the river like
a wall for a mile and a quarter and then stopped.
From the end to the opposite shore it was a clear space
of a little more than a quarter of a mile, through which
the compressed river rushed with a strength and shout
and fury that were appalling. This wall of rock, how-
ever, was not solid — here and there it was cut through
as if by some mighty blow, making separate channels
that had a fall of twelve feet. Below, as far as the eye
could reach, treeless mountains arose nearly a mile into
the heavens, while half-way up from the mad river, that
tore with the sound of thunder along their bases, per-
pendicular cliffs stood walling in this awful embodiment
of power.
A scene of more utter desolation cannot be imagined
than was here presented to his view in this solitary
spot. The camp seemed a mere speck amid these
gigantic outlines of mountain and river. As he thus
looked and listened, awe-struck and subdued, he saw
Frank in the Lady Alice coming through the rapids at
a terrific pace. This was the first time he had attempted
such a feat, and he got confused and finally thrown into
the worst part of the rapids, and in his frantic struggles
to release himself, struck a rock and stove a hole into
the boat six inches square. However, all were landed
in safety, though Stanley mourned greatly over the
severe injury to his boat, which thus far had escaped
all harm. It took him a whole day to repair it. Two
days after, the goods were transferred below and the
boats dropped carefully through the ledge near the
shore, whore the water was less rough, and reached the
camp below the great falls in safety.
436 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
While resting here there occurred one of the most in-
teresting scenes of this whole remarkable journey. In
the transportion of goods over the mountains robberies
had been committed of beads, etc., and now the last
man in the whole party Stanley would wish to have
accused of theft was found guilty — the noble, brave, re-
liable and kind Uledi. True as steel in the hour of
danger, quiet, obedient, thinking nothing of his life if
Stanley asked him to risk it, he had yet stolen — not
things of ordinary value, but that on which their very
existence might depend": Cloth was getting so plenty
among the natives that its value was very much de-
creased, but beads were worth ten times their weight in
gold, and these Uledi had stolen and hidden in his mat.
Of course this must be stopped at all hazards and at
whatever sacrifice, still Stanley would almost as soon
have lost his hand as to leave Uledi, as he threatened
he would the next man he found stealing, in the hands
of the savages as a slave forever. He therefore called
the chiefs together and made them a speech, in which
he clearly showed them that their lives depended on
putting a stop to theft, for if they were left without any-
thing to buy provisions with, they all would inevitably
perish of famine before they reached the sea, and asked
them what should be done with Uledi, on whom stolen
goods had been found. The principal chief would not
answer for some time, but being urged to give his
opinion said at last : It was very hard, seeing it was
Uledi. Had it been any body else hs declared he would
vote to pitch him into the river, but now he gave his
vote for flogging. The rest of the chiefs concurred with
him. Stanley then turned to the boat's crew, of which
Uledi was coxswain, and by whom he was dearly loved.
The principal one and the most relied on, the watchman
of the boat, replied, "Ah, it is a hard question, masteY.
He is like our elder brother ; but, as the fathers of the
people have spoke, be it so ; yet for our sakes, master,
beat him just a little." He next accosted Zaidi, by
whose side Uledi had clung all night in the midst of the
A TOUCHING APPEAL. 437
cataract, and had saved his life by risking his own. He
replied, " Remember it is UJedi, master." Next he ad-
dressed Uledi's brother, who cried " Spare Uledi, but, if
he must be flogged, give me half of it, I shall not feel it
if it is for Uledi." Last of alJ he asked the poor culprit's
cousin, when he replied in a speech that the London
Athenseum, in quoting it said would stand beside that
of Jeanie Dean's, when pleading for her sister. The
poor fellow asked, " Will the master give his slave liberty
to speak?" "Yes," replied Stanley. He then came for-
ward, and kneeling before him and clasping his feet with
his hands, said : "The master is wise. All things that
happen he writes in a book. Each day there is some-
thing written. We black men know nothing, neither
have we any memory. What we saw yesterday
is to-day forgotten. Yet the master forgets nothing.
Perhaps, if the master will look into his book, he may
see something in it about Uledi. How Uledi behaved
on Lake Tanganika ; how he rescued Zaidi from the cat-
aract ; how he has saved many men, whose names I can-
not remember, from the river — Bill Ali, Mabruki, Kom-
kusi and others. How he worked harder on the canoe
than any three men ; how he has been the first to listen
to your voice always ; how he has been the father of the
boat-boys. With Uledi, master, the boat-boys are good
and ready, without him they are nothing. Uledi is Shu-
mari's brother. If Uledi is bad Shumari is good. Uledi
is my cousin. If, as the chiefs say, Uledi should be
punished, Shumari says he will take half of the punish-
ment ; then give Say wa the other half, and set Uledi
free. Saywa has spoken."
All this was uttered in a low, humble tone, with his
head bowed to Stanley's feet, Stanley could not resist
such an appeal, and said : " Very well, Uledi, by the
voice of the people, is condemned ; but as Shumari and
Saywa have promised to take the punishment on them-
selves, Uledi is set free and Shumari and Saywa are
pardoned." The moment the poor fellow was set free,
he stepped forward and said : "Master, it was not Uledi
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
who stole — it was the devil which entered into his
heart." This touching scene is given, not merely for its
pathos, but because the untutored natives, here in the
wilds of Africa, illustrated the principles that lie at the
very foundation of the Christian religion. First, they
recognized the great fundamental doctrine of atonement
— of expiation — the suffering of the innocent in the
place of the guilty, by which the offender can be par-
doned. In the second place, Uledi uttered over again
the sentiments of Paul — When a man's whole nature
revolts at the wrong he has done, and hates himself for
it, it is not he that commits it, but " sin that
dwelleth in him," when he would do good, evil
was present with him. It was a happy termination
of the affair, for it would have been a cruel act
to have had the noble, true, unselfish and brave Uledi
suffer the indignity of a whip. As in God's arrange-
ment, forgiveness here was a severer condemnation of
crime than punishment would have been.
Another scene occurred, while in camp, that shows on
what an insignificent, nay, ridiculous thing the fate of
a great expedition may turn. One day, Stanley being
at leisure, took out his note book and began to write, as
was his custom when he had a few hours to himself.
The natives, who flocked into camp in great numbers
daily, noticed him and began to whisper among them-
selves. The crowd around him gradually increased and
began to be strangely agitated, as the word " tara tara "
passed from lip to lip, and presently, as if seized by a
single impulse, they all ran away. Stanley merely ob-
served the fact without stopping to think what the
cause of this sudden abandonment of the camp might be.
He therefore went on writing, when suddenly he was
startled by loud war-cries ringing far and near over the
mountain top, and, in two hours after, saw between five
and six hundred natives fully armed rushing down the
table-land toward the camp. He quickly mustered his
men to be prepared for what seemed an unprovoked at-
tack, but determined, if possible, to avoid a collision.
STANLEY PERPLEXED. 439
He therefore advanced toward them as they drew near,
and, sitting down on the ground, in a friendly tone asked
what it all meant, and why they had come in such a
warlike manner to their friends. A large savage, acting
as spokesman, replied that they had seen him make
marks on some " tara tara." Those black lines he had
drawn on the paper, he said, would bring sickness and
death and utter ruin on the land, and the people, and
animals, unless the book containing them was burnt up.
Here was an unexpected dilemma. He must burn up
that note-book or fight these five or six hundred armed,
desperate savages. But that note-book, the gathered
results of nearly three years of exploration, was the most
precious thing on earth to him. He was astounded and
sorely perplexed at the strange demand — burn up that
note-book ! He might as well burn up himself. Even
if he could remember his main adventures, he could not
recall all the observations, plans of maps and routes, and
statistics of every kind it contained, and, without which,
the whole expedition was a failure. No, he could not
give it up, but what then — fight one against four, all
armed with muskets, to retain it ? Suppose he could
put them to rout, it could not be done without a serious
loss of life to himself as well as to them. But this was
not the worst of it — with the natives friendly and aiding
him as they had done and supplying him with provi-
sions, it would be almost a miracle if he ever reached
the sea-shore ; but with them hostile, even if he could
fight his way through them, he would certainly perish
from famine, for he could obtain no provisions, without
which he and the book would perish together. But,
still, he could not give up that book, and he turned over
in his mind every conceivable plan of averting the cat-
astrophe. Finally, he told them to wait a moment,
while, in the meantime, he stepped back to his tent as
if to fetch it.
All at once it occurred to him that he might substi-
tute another book for it, if, among his scant collection,
he could find one at all resembling it. Turning them
88
440 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
over, he carne across a volume of Shakespeare of just
about the same size. True, the binding was different,
but those savages knew as little of the peculiar binding
of a book as they did of its contents. Besides, it lay
open on Stanley's knee when they saw it, and they ob-
served only the black lines. However, the attempt to
pass it off on these wild savages for the real book was
worth making. So taking it in his hand, he walked
back to where they stood with ferocious looks waiting
for his determination, and handing it to them, told them
to take it. No, they would not touch it, he must burn
it. Well, Stanley said he would do anything to please
such good friends as they were. So together they went
to a camp-fire near by, and solemnly consigned poor
Shakespeare to the flames.
The natives were delighted at this evidence of Stan-
ley's good will, and became faster friends than ever.
What he would have done had it come to the issue —
burn that note-book or fight — he does not tell us.
The river had been thoroughly explored for two miles
below where they were encamped to the head of the
Zinga Falls. It was a rough, wild stretch of water, but
it was thought it might be passed safely by using great
caution and keeping out of the midstream rapids. At
all events, Stanley had determined to try it first himself
in his own boat — a resolution that nearly cost him his
life. The next day, the 3d of June, the attempt was to
be made, and Frank passed the evening in Stanley's
tent in great spirits, talking and singing songs of merry
old England. He was always singing, and most of the
time religious songs which he had learned at home.
The wilds of Africa had equalized these men, and they
held sweet communion together this last night on
the banks of the wild river. Frank seemed unusually
exhilarated, little dreaming, alas, that the next night his
lifeless body would be tossing amid the rocks that lined
the bed of the fierce torrent below — his merry songs all
hushed — nevermore to while away the weary hours in
this dreary solitude of Africa or brighten the life of hU
England home.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE DEATH OF FRANK POCOKE.
Elevated from the place of servant to that of friend — Proposes to to8s
up to determine whether they shall follow the Lualaba to the sea or
not — Chance decides they shall — Pocoke's shoes become worn out
in the forest — Is made lame — Passage of the Mowwa Falls — Stanley' •
peril — Pocoke's fatal self-will — His death — The sight that stunned
Stanley — A gloomy night for him — Pocoke's character.
FRANK POCOKE, who, as stated previously, joined
the expedition under Stanley as a servant, and
whose brother had fallen at what proved to be the mere
outset of the real main expedition, had, by his intelli-
gence, geniality, ability and courage, and perhaps quite
as much by the necessity of companionship that Stan-
ley felt the need of in that wild region, and which only
a white, civilised man could furnish, had risen above
the position he had taken till Stanley looked upon him
more as a friend than as a servant. This was natural ;
he was the only man he could talk with in English ; the
only man who had the taste and manners of civilized
life ; the only one who in the long halt could in any way
be his companion ; and, more than all, the only man who
he knew positively would stand by him in the hour of
danger to the last, and fall, if fall they must, side by
side. Whoever else might prove false- in these vast un-
trodden solitudes, Frank Pocoke, he well knew, would
not be one of them. Under such circumstances and con-
ditions, Stanley would not have been the true man he is
if he had not lifted the servant up to the place of friend,
and he did. It was therefore but natural that in the
long mental discussion at Ziangwe as to whether he
should return or choose some other route than through
the hostile tribes whoso territory the waters of the Lu-
alaba washed, or push on at all hazards by following its
current to the sea, that he should take his quondam ser-
441
442 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
vant into his confidence and they should together talk
over all the probabilities and possibilities of the different
routes to be adopted. In another place we have shown
what those difficulties were, and what the real or imag-
inable obstacles were that confronted Stanley if he deter-
mined to follow the Lualaba at all hazards to the sea.
In speaking of the death of young Pocoke, we wish
to show what influence he had at last in fixing the de-
termination that led to his own death and Stanley's
fame as an explorer. One day, while Stanley was dis-
cussing with Pocoke the wisest course to pursue, the lat-
ter said : " Mr. Stanley, suppose we toss up, to deter-
mine whether we shall follow the Lualaba as far as the
Lowra, and then strike off for Monbruto, or follow it to
the sea ?"
Stanley, who had become alniost indifferent as to
whether one course or the other would end his life, agreed,
and a toss-up was made, and the result being on the side
of following the river to the sea, the drawing of straws
was resorted to. Three trials of chances were made, and
the decision of fate, as proposed by Pocoke was to fol-
low the river to the sea. He little thought that ac-
cidental toss was a toss-up for his own life, and that so
trivial an affair settled his fate forever. We know what
was Stanle}r's final decision, and though he does not ac-
knowledge that this trial by chances had any effect on
his final determination, the experience of human nature,
since the world began, proves that it must have had.
Even Napoleon, who believed that Providence was on
the side of the strong battalions, had an equally strong
belief in his " star." While it, doubtless, did have more
or less influence on Stanley, it did not weaken his faith
in the " strong battalions," which was, in his case, a wise
provision, so far as he could make it, against all possible
and probable contingencies.
We have said thus much to show the real relations
that Frank Pocoke at last sustained to the expedition.
In the long and terrible march through the gloomy
forest after leaving Zywague, and before finally launch-
SHOES WEARING OUT. 443
ing or the Lualaba, to quit it no more till they reached
the sea, or lay at rest forever on its solitary banks,
Pocoke's shoes had become completely worn out. In
traversing, half-barefoot, the tangled undergrowth,
they had at last given out entirely, and the result was
his feet became chafed, and at last, through constant
irritation, caused by the necessity of hastening forward
at all hazards, the abrasions that would have healed,
could they have made a short halt, became ulcers, so that
when they again struck the Lualaba he was unable to
walk any farther, and Stanley said that if at any time
they would have to leave the river and carry around
rapids, Frank would have to be carried also.
Stanley always led;the way over the rapids, and selected
the paths for hauling around the canoes, while Pocoke
superintended the soldiers and distributed the rations,
etc. But now he was placed on the sick-list.
On the morning of the 3d of June, they came to the
Mowwa Falls, ai'ound which they must carry, and the
men shouldered the goods arid baggage arid started over-
land for Zinga, three miles distant, while Stanley at-
tempted to run two small falls, named Massesse and
Massassa, with the boat's crew. Hugging the -shore for
about three-quarters of a mile, they came at last to a
lofty cliff, against which the tide threw the down-rush-
ing stream back in such fury that great whirlpools were
formed and they steered for the centre of the river and
endeavored to stem the tide, but failed. After fighting
fiercely against the raging of whirlpools, they tried again
to advance in another direction, when Stanley discover-
ed that his boat was fast filling with water, while the
surface became still more terribly agitated at a point to-
ward which he had been unconsciously drifting. The
danger now became imminent. Shouting to the men to
leave off bailing and pull for life for the shore, he
threw off his coat, belt and shoes, to be in readiness to
swim when the boat should capsize, as he expected it
would. A wild whirlpool was near the boat and for a
moment it seemed certain that it would drift into the
444 EXPLOEATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
vortex. But by a strong effort it was forced away and
they pulled for shore. By the time they had reached it,
the leaky boat was half-full of water. Finding it im-
possible to proceed in it he returned to Mowwa Falls,
and after a short rest took a canoe and tried to proceed.
But while he was talking with Pocoke, the crew had
scattered, and as those who had gone to Zinga had not
returned, he determined to go overland and look after
the goods, and leave to his chief captain, M an w a Sera,
the supervision of the passage of the fall. He told him
to first send forward a reserve canoe with short ropes
fastened to the sides. " The crew," he said, " will pick
their way carefully down the river until near the falls,
then let the men judge for themselves whether they are
able to take the canoe farther. Above all things stick
to the shore and do not play with the river." He then
bade Pocoke good-bye, saying he would send him his
breakfast immediately with hammock bearers, shook
hands and turned to climb the mountain toward the
camp.
Sending back the breakfast as he had promised, he
paid a visit to the kings of Zinga. Becoming anxious
about the boats, as this was the first time he had ever
permitted any one but himself to lead the way in any
dangerous part of the river, he about three o'clock took
his glass and going to the shore began to look up the
river that came tearing out of the mountain like a wild
animal and shaking the shores with its loud thunder.
Suddenly he saw something black tossing amid the tur-
bulent water. Scanning it closely, he saw it was an up-
turned canoe and to its side several men were clinging.
He instantly dispatched two chiefs and ten men to a
bend toward which the wreck was drifting. The crew,
however, knowing there was another cataract just be-
low, attempted to right the boat and save themselves ;
but, unable to do so, got on the keel and began to paddle
for dear life with their hands toward the shore. As
they got near the farther bank, he saw them jump off
the boat and swim for shore. They had hardly reached
DEATH OF POCOKE. 445
it when the upturned boat shot by Stanley like an
arrow and with one fierce leap dashed over the brink
of the cataract and disappeared in the foam and tumult
below. In a few minutes a messenger arrived out of
breath, saying that eleven men were in that canoe, only
eight of whom were saved — the other three being drown-
ed, one of whom was Pocoke. Stanley turned fiercely
on Uledi, his coxswain, and demanded how he came to
let Pocoke, a lame man, go in the rescue canoe. " Ah,
master," he replied, " we could not help it ; he would not
wait. He said, ' since the canoe is going to camp I will
go too. I am hungry and cannot wait any longer. I
cannot walk and I do not want you to carry me, that the
natives may all laugh at me. No, I will go with you ;
and refusing to listen to Captain Manwa Sera, who re-
monstrated with him, he got in and told us to cast off.
We found no trouble in forcing our way against the back
current. We struck the down current, and when we
were near the fall I steered her into the cove to take a good
look at it first. When I had climbed over the rocks and
stood over it, I saw that it was a bad place — that it was
useless to expect any canoe to go over it without cap-
sizing, and I went to the little master and told him so.
He would not believe me, but sent other men to report
on it. They told the same story : that the fall could
not be passed by shooting over it in a canoe. Then he
said we were always afraid of a little water and that we
were no men. 'All right,' I said, 'if you say cast off I
am ready. I am not afraid of any water, but if any-
thing happens my master will be angry with me.'
'Cast off,' the little master said, 'nothing will happen;
am I not here ?' You could not have counted ten, mas-
ter, before we were all sorry. The cruel water caught
us and tossed and whirled us about and shot us here
and shot us there, and the noise was fearful. Suddenly
the little master shouted 'Look out! take hold of the
ropes !' and he was tearing his shirt off when the canoe,
which was whirling round and round with its bow in
the air, was dragged down, down, down, until I thought
446 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
my chest would burst; then we were shot out into daylight
again and I took some breath. The little master and two
of the men were not to be seen, but soon I saw the
little master with his face upward but insensible. I
instantly struck out for him to save him, but we were
both taken down again and the water seemed to be
tearing my legs away ; but I would not give in ; I held
my breath hard then and I came to the surface, but the
little master was gone for ever. This is my story, mas-
ter." Stanley then examined the men separately, to as-
certain if it were true and found it was. This man was
brave but not foolhardy, and the best and most reliable
in the whole party.
Stanley very briefly expressed the sadness and loneli-
ness of his feelings that night as he sat and looked on
the empty tent of young Pocoke, but no language can
express the utter desolation of his situation. His posi-
tion, surroundings, prospects, all combined to spread a
pall black as midnight over his spirit and fill his heart
with the gloomiest forebodings. Sitting alone in the
heart of a country never before trod by the foot of a
white man, on the banks of a mysterious river, on whose
bosom he was to be borne he knew not where, the
gloomy forest stretching away beyond him, the huts of
strange natives behind him, the water in deep shadows
rushing by, on whose, foam and whirlpools his friend
had gone down, and whose body then lay tossing amid
the broken rock, the strangely silent tropical sky,
brilliant with stars, bending over him, the thoughts of
home and friends far away caused a sad and solemn
gathering of emotions and feelings around his heart till
they rushed over it like that rushing water, and made
him inconceivably sad there in the depths of the forest.
"With no one to talk to in his native tongue, no one to
council with, without one friend on whom he could rely,
leit all alone to meet the unknown future, was to be left
desolate indeed. Before, he knew there was one arm on
vhich he could always lean, one stout, brave heart that
v -mid stand unflinchingly by his side in the deadliest
STANLEY'S ETJLOGIUM ON POCOKE. 447
peril, share all his dangers, and go cheerfully to the
very gates of death with him. But now he was alone,
with none but natives around him, with whom he must
meet all the unknown dangers of the untrodden wilder-
ness before him — perhaps be buried by them in the
gloomy forest or left to be devoured by cannibals. It
was enough to daunt the bravest spirit, appal the stout-
est heart, and that lonely night on the banks of the
Lualaba will live in Stanley's memory forever.
Stanley pronounced a high eulogium on his young
friend, saying that he was a true African explorer — he
seemed to like the dangers and even the sufferings of
the expedition, so well did they harmonize with his ad-
venturous spirit. Quick and resolute, he was always
docile, and in the heat and excitement of battle would obey
Stanley's slightest wish with alacrity. He seemed
fitted for an explorer: no danger daunted him, no ob-
stacle discouraged him, while his frame, though slight,
was tough and sinewy, and he was capable of under-
going any amount of labor and could endure the heaviest
strain. He had so endeared himself to Stanley that the
latter said, in a letter to young Pocoke's parents, that
his death took away all the joy and exultation he should
otherwise have felt in accomplishing the great task the
two had undertaken together.
CHAPTER XL.
Stanley mourning for his friend — A mutiny — Sadness of Stanley — Re-
turn of the deserters — Boats carried over a hill — The chief carpen-
ter carried over the falls — Stanley runs the Mbelo Falls — Miraculous
escape — Feeling of his people — The end of the chasm— One mile and
a quarter a day for eight months— The Arahs steal, ami are made
prisoners — Arabs left in slavery for stealing — Falls of Isingila reached
— Stanley resolves to leave the river — The Lady Alice abandoned —
The march for Boma — Uledi slaps a king in the face — Stanley sends
a letter to Boma — The messengers depart — He moves on — Meets
an enemy who becomes a friend — A glad surprise — Food in abun-
dance — Luxuries for Stanley — A song of triumph — Stanley's feel-
ings, as shown by his letter — Reach Boma — The reaction — Stanley
offered a steamer home — Prefers to stand by his Arabs — Reception
at Cape Town — Zanzibar reached — Joy of the Arabs — An affecting
scene — Farewell to Stanley.
next morning Stanley arose with a sad and
heavy heart ; the cruel, relentless river seemed more
remorseless than ever, and its waves flowed on with an
angrier voice, that seemed full of hate and defiance.
Eighty men were still behind, at Mowwa, and the
next day word reached Stanley that they had mutinied,
declaring they would follow the river no longer, for
death was in it. He, borne down with his great loss,
paid no attention to the report, and stayed and mourned
for his friend for three days before he set out for
Mowwa. He found the men sullen, sad and reckless.
It would be strange, however, if he could not regain his
old influence, which, after much effort, he did. But he did
not get all down to Zinga till after four days. Mean-
time Frank's body had been found floating, face up-
ward, some distance below the falls. All the canoes did
not reach Zinga till the 19th, more than a fortnight
after Frank's death.
On June 20th Stanley began to make preparations to
continue on down the river. There had been dreadful
hard work in passing and getting round the falls where
Frank lost his life, but the worst of it was, when they
448
KEBELL10N. 449
had succeeded, they seemed to have just begun their
labors, for now it had all got to be repeated over again.
The men had lost all spirit and did not seem to care
what became of them ; and so, when on the 20th, Stan-
ley ordered the men to the work to lay brushwood
along the tracks marked out for hauling the canoes
from the Pocoke basin around Zinga point into the basin
beyond, the men seemed disinclined to move. Stanley,
in surprise, asked what was the matter. " We are tired
of this," growled a burly fellow, "and that's what's the
matter."
Stanley soon discovered that he was not alone in his
opinion, and, though once he would have quelled this
spirit of rebellion with prompt, determined action, he did
not feel like using harsh measures now, or even harsh
language. He knew he had tasked them to the utter-
most— that they had followed his bidding unquestioned,
as far as he ought to ask them, and so he called them
together to talk with them and give them an opportunity
to tell frankly their grievances. But there was nothing
to say, except they had gone far enough, and did not
mean to make another effort. Death and famine awaited
them, and they might as well give up first as last.
Stanley did not attempt even to appeal to them, except
indirectly. He simply told them that he, too, was hun-
gry, and could have had meat, but saved it for them.
He, too, was weary and sad. They might leave him if
they chose — he had his boat still, and if he was left
alone, he had but to step into it — the falls were near,
and he would soon be at rest with his friend. It is most
pitiful and sad to see how the indomitable will of this
strong man has given way. The bold and confident
manner with which he set out for Nyangwe — the heal-
thy, cheery, tone in which he addressed them when
bowed down with grief at the farewell song of Tipo-
tipo's Arabs are gone, and in their place has come a
.great weariness and despair. To see such a strong man
forced at last to yield, awakens our deepest sympathy.
No wonder he was weary of life, and longed to die.
450 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Under the terrible mental and physical strain of the last
six mouths the toughest nature must give way, while to
this was added the feebleness that comes from want of
food and the utter dreary, hopeless prospect before him.
As he stood amid his dusky followers, his once sinewy
frame looked lean and languid, and his voice had a
weary, despairing tone. The star of fame that had led
him on was gone down, and life itself had lost all its
brightness, and when he had done speaking he turned
away indifferent as to the future. The men listened,
but their hungry, despairing hearts felt no sympathy.
They, too, had reached the point of indifference as to the
future, except they would no longer cling to that cruel
river, and thirty-one packed their baggage and filed away
up the ascent and were soon lost to view. When it was
told to Stanley, he inquired how many had gone.
Learning that only thirty-one had left, and that the rest
would stand by him to the last, he roused himself, and
unwilling that the faithful should perish through the
disaffection of a few men, he sent messengers after the
deserters to plead with them to come back. They over-
took them five miles away and urged them to return,
but in vain. Setting the faithful to work, he dispatched
two men to cut off the fugitives, and tell the chiefs not
to let them pass through their terrritory. They obeyed,
and beat the war-drum, which so terrified the wander-
ers that they were glad to return. It would seem
strange that men who had been accustomed to obey
him implicitly for nearly three years, and had stood by
him so staunchly in many a fight and through countless
perils, could so easily desert him now. But despair will
make even a wise man mad, and these poor creatures
had got into that hopeless condition which makes all
men reckless. Starting off with no definite aim in view,
no point to travel towards, shows how desperate they
had become. No wonder they saw no hope in clinging
to the river, for they had now been over a month going
three miles, and it seemed worse than useless to attempt
to push on farther in that direction.
THE "LIVINGSTONE" LOST. 451
On the 23d of June, the work was commenced of haul-
ing out the canoes to take them over a hill two hundred
feet high, and by noon three were safely on the summit.
Next came the "Livingstone," which had been recently
made. It weighed some three tons, yet, with the aid of
a hundred and fifty natives, they had succeeded in get-
ting it twenty feet up the bank, when the cables parted
and it shot swiftly back into the river. The chief car-
penter clung to it, and, being carried beyond his depth,
climbed into it. He was only a short distance above
the falls, and the brave Uledi, seeing his peril, plunged
into the river, and, swimming to the boat, called out to
him to leap overboard instantly. The poor wretch re-
plied that he could not swim. " Jump," shouted Uledi,
" you are drifting toward the cataract." The terrified
creature, as he cowered in the canoe, faltered out, " I am
afraid to." " Well, then," said Uledi, "you are lost-
brother, good-bye," and struck out with all his might
for the shore. A minute's longer delay, and he, too,
would have been lost, for, though a strong swimmer, he
was able, only by the most desperate effort, to reach
shore less than sixty feet from the brink of the falls.
The next minute the canoe was shooting over them into
the boiling cauldron below. Tossed up and down and
whirled about, it finally went down and was seen no
more.
The next day the other boats were got up, and then
the process of letting them down was commenced. This
was done in safety, when the goods were sent overland
to the Mbelo Fall beyond, while the boats should attempt
to run the rapids. There was no abrupt descent, but a
wild waste of tumbling, roaring water dashing against
the cliffs and rocks in reckless fury. Stanley resolved
to try them first, before risking his men, and embarked
in the Lady Alice, and, with men on shore holding cables
attached to the bow and stern, drifted slowly downward
amid the rocks. The little boat seemed a mere toy
amid the awful scenery in which it floated, and Stanley
felt, as it rocked beneath him, what a helpless thing it
452 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
would be in the wild and turbulent midstream. But
just as he had reached the most dangerous point, one of
the cables parted. The boat swung to, when the other
snapped asunder and the frightened thing was borne
like a bubble into the boiling surge and carried down-
ward like an arrow. Down, down, between the frown-
ing precipices, now barely escaping a huge rock, and
now lifted like a feather on the top of a wave, it swept
on, apparently, to certain destruction. But death had
lost all its terrors to these hard-hunted men, and the
six in the boat sat resigned to their fate. The brave
Uledi, however, kept his hand on the helm and his
steady eye on the hell of waters around and before
them. Sometimes caught in a whirlpool that whirled
them around and around, and then springing like a
panther down a steep incline, the boat continued to
plunge on in its mad course with death on every side,
until at last it shot into the Niguru basin, when they
rowed to the sandy beach of Kilanga. Here, amid the
rocks, they found the broken boat in which Pocoke
went down, and the body of one of the men who was
drowned with him jammed among the fragments.
Stanley looked back on this perilous ride with strange
feelings. It seemed as if fate, while trying him to the
utmost, was determined he should not perish, but fulfil
the great mission he had undertaken. His people seemed
to think so, too, for when they saw his boat break adrift
and launch into the boiling rapids, they gave him up for
lost ; but when they caught sight of him coming toward
them alive and well, they gave way to extravagant joy
and exclaimed, " It is the hand of God — we shall reach
the sea." The escape was so wonderful, almost mirac-
ulous, that they could not but believe that God had
spared him to save them all.
They now pushed on with littte trouble to Mpakam-
bendi, the terminus of the chasm, ninety-three miles
long, in wliicl. they had been struggling a hundred and
seventeen days. This simple statement conveys very
little to the ear, yet what fearful shapes does it conjure
MORE THIEVING. 453
up to the imagination ! Ninety-three miles of rapids
and cataracts, with only here and there a stretch of
smooth water ! A mile and a quarter a day was all the
progress they had made now for nearly four months.
No wonder the poor Arabs gave up in despair and re-
fused any longer to follow the river.
Although below the chasm the stream did not flow
with that placidity it did through the cannibal region,
still, it did not present any dangerous rapids, and they
glided on toward the sea with new hopes.
The natives along the banks were friendly, though
difficulties were constantly arising from the thieving
propensities of the Arabs. Two were seized by the
natives, and Stanley had nearly to bankrupt himself to
redeem them, on which he gave the men a talk and told
them plainly that this was positively the last time he
would redeem a single prisoner seized for theft, nor
would he resort to force to rescue him.
It was now the 7th day of July, and although hope
had revived in the hearts of the people, some of the sick
felt that they should never see their native island again.
Two died this day and were buried on the banks of the
river whose course they had followed so long. They
now had clear, though not smooth, sailing for some nine
or ten miles, when they came to another fall. This was
passed in safety, with the assistance of the natives, who
assembled in great numbers and volunteered their ser-
vices, for which they were liberally rewarded. More or
less broken water was experienced, but not bad enough
to arrest the progress of the boats. Provisions were
getting scarce, and consequently the thieving propensity
of the Arabs to obtain them more actively exhibited
itself, and one man, caught while digging up roots in
a garden, was held as a prisoner. The men asked his
release, but Stanley, finding that the price which the
natives asked for his redemption was far greater than
his means to pay, would not interfere, and he was left
to live and die in perpetual slavery. But this did not
stop thieving, and soon another man was caught in the
454 EXPLORATIONS IN TH1 WILDS OF AFRICA.
act and made prisoner. This case was submitted to the
chiefs, and their decision was to let hi .11 remain in sla-
very. But the men were starving, and even this terrible
exhibition of the doom that awaited them was not suf-
ficient to deter the men from stealing food. The de-
mands of the stomach overrode all fears of punishment,
and three or four days after another man was detected
and made a prisoner. He, too, was left to live and die a
slave in the hands of the natives. Dangerous rapids
were now and then encountered, but they were passed
without accident, and Stanley at last found that he was
close to the sea. He announced the fact to his people,
who were intensely excited at the news. One man, a
boatman, went crazy over it, and, shouting "we have
reached the sea, we are at home," rushed into the woods
and was never seen again. The poor wretch, probably,
lay down at last in the forest, with the groves of Zan-
zibar, in imagination, JUSD ahead of him. Sweeping
downward, frequent rapids occurred, but the expedition
kept on until it reached the district of Kilolo.
Stanley here lay down weary and hungry, but was
aroused by musket-shots. His people, starving and des-
perate, had scattered about, entering every garden they
saw to get something to eat, and the natives had at-
tacked them. Soon wounded men were brought in,
whom the natives had shot, Several had been captured
whom Stanley refused to redeem, and they were left to
pine in endless captivity, never again to see the hills of
Zanzibar, as he over and over again had promised they
should.
Changing from bank to bank, as the character of the
river changed, the expedition, on the 30th of July, heard
in advance the roar of the cataract of Isingila. Here
Stanley ascertained that they were but five days' jour-
ney from Embomma, a distance always traveled by land
by the natives, on account of the obstructions in the
river.
As the whole object of the expedition had been ac-
complished, and the short distance beyond these falls to
THE LADY ALICE ABANDONED. 455
the sea was known to Europeans, he resolved to leave
the river and march by land to Embomma. At sunset
the Lady Alice was drawn out of the water to the top
of some rocks and abandoned forever. To Stanley it
was like leaving a friend behind. The boat had been
his companion for nearly three years. It had carried
him over the waters of the lakes, dashed at his bidding
among hostile canoes, rocked him to sleep amid the
storms, borne him all safely over foaming cataracts, and
now it must be left ignobly to rot in the wilds of Africa.
As he turned to cast a last farewell glance on it resting
mournfully on the i-ocks, the poor boat had almost a
human look, as if it knew it was to be left behind and
abandoned forever.
On the 1st of August, the famished, weary column
took up its line of march toward the sea — the mothers
carrying infants, that had been born amid the cataracts,
and the larger children trudging slowly after. Nearly
forty of the one hundred and fifteen were sick,and though
it was painful to travel, they were cheered by the prom-
ise that in four or five days they should once more look
on the sea, toward which their longing hearts had been
turned for so many weary months. Coming to a village,
the king stopped them and told them they could not
pass without they gave him a bottle of rum. Uledi,
hastening up, asked Stanley what the old man wanted.
"Rum," he replied. Hitting him a severe dap in the
face, " there is rum for him," growled Uledi, as the
drunken negro tumbled over. The latter picked him-
self up and hurried away, and Stanley and his worn
and wasted band passed on without further molesta-
tion.
It was hard to get food, for one party would demand
rum and refused to furnish it without, another wanted
them to wait till the next market-day.
On the third day they reached Nsanda, the king of
which told Stanley it was but three days' march to the sea.
The latter asked him if he would carry a letter to Em-
bomma for him. He replied no, but after four hours of
29
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
hard urging he agreed to furnish guides for three of
Stanley's men.
VILLAGE OF NSANDA.
The next day they set out, carrying the following
letter: —
AN APPEAL FOR HELP. 457
VILLAGE NSANDA, August 4th, 1877.
To any gentleman who speaks English at Embomma.
DEAR SIR : I have arrived at this place from Zanzibar
with one hundred and fifteen souls, men, women and
children. We are now in a state of imminent starva-
tion. We can buy nothing from the natives, for they
laugh at our kinds of cloth, beads and wire. There are
no provisions in the country that may be purchased ex-
cept on market-days, and starving people cannot afford
to wait for these markets. I therefore have made bold
to dispatch three of my young men, natives of Zanzibar,
with a boy named Robert Ferugi of the English mission
at Zanzibar, with this letter, craving relief from you. I
do not know you, but I am told there is an Englishman
at Embomma, and as you are a Christian and a gentle-
man, I beg of you not to disregard my request. The boy
Robert will be better able to describe our condition than
I can tell you in a letter. We are in a state of the
greatest distress, but, if your supplies arrive in time,
I may be able to reach Embomma in four days. I want
three hundred cloths, each four yards long, of such
quality as you trade with, which is very different from
that we have ; but better than all would be ten or
fifteen man-loads of rice or grain to fill their pinched
bellies immediately, as, even with the cloths it would
require time to purchase food, and starving men cannot
wait. The supplies must arrive within two days, or I
may have a fearful time of it among the dying. Of
course I hold myself responsible for any expense you
may incur in this business. What is wanted is imme-
diate relief, and I pray you to use your utmost ener-
gies to forward it at once. For myself, if you have
such little luxuries as tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits by
you, such as one man can easily carry, I beg you, on my
own behalf, that you will send a small supply, and add
458 EXPLOKATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
to the great debt of gratitude due to you upon the time-
ly arrival of supplies for my people. Until that time, I
beg you to believe me,
Yours, sincerely,
H. M. STANLEY.
Commanding Anglo-American Expedition
for Exploration of Africa.
P. S. — You may not know my name; I therefore add,
I am the person that discovered Livingstone.
H. M. S.
After writing this letter, Stanley called his chiefs and
boat's crew to his tent and told them of his purpose to
send a letter to Ernbomma for relief, and wanted to
know which were the most reliable men — would travel
fastest and least likely to be arrested or turned back by
obstacles. The ever ready Uledi sprang to his feet and
exclaimed, as he tightened his belt, " 0 master, I am
ready now !" The other volunteers responded as quick-
ly, and the next day the guides appearing, they started
off. In the meantime, the expedition resumed its slow
march, having eaten nothing but a few nuts to stay their
stomachs. Coming to a village, the chief demanded
payment for passing through his country, and armed his
followers ; but on Stanley threatening to destroy every
man in the place, his rage subsided, he shook hands,
and peace was made and sealed by a drink of palm wine
and the promise of a bottle of rum.
In the meanwhile, Uledi and his companions pressed
swiftly on, but when about half way, the guides, becom-
ing frightened, deserted them. Unable to obtain others,
they resolved to follow the Congo. All day long they
pressed steadily forward, and, just after sunset, reached
Boma, to which Embomma had been changed, and de-
livered the letter. The poor fellows had not tasted food
for thirty hours, and were well-nigh famished. They
soon had abundance, and the next morning (August
6th), while Stanley was leading on his bloated, haggard,
"WE ARE SAVED!" 459
half-starved, staggering men, women and children, Uledi
started back with carriers loaded down with provisions.
At nine o'clock, the expedition had to stop and rest.
While they lay scattered about on the green sward, sud-
denly an Arab boy shouted, " I see Uledi corning down
the hill ! and sure enough there were Uledi and Kacheche
leaping down the slope and waving their arms in the
air. "Lail Allah, il Allah !" went up with one wild
shout — " we are saved thank God !" Uledi had brought
a letter to Stanley, who had scarcely finished reading it
when the carriers appeared in sight laden with provis-
ions. The sick and lame struggled to their feet, and,
with the others, pressed around them. While Stanley
was distributing them, one of the boat-boys struck up a
triumphant song, that echoed far over the plain. They
then set to and ate as only starving men can eat.
When all were supplied, Stanley turned to his tent,
to open the private packages sent to him. Heavens !
what a spectacle met his astonished sight ! A few hours
before, he had made his breakfast on a few green ban-
anas and peanuts, washed with a cup of muddy water,
and now before him were piled champagne, port and
sherry wines, and ale, and bread and butter, and tea,
and sugar, and plum-pudding, and various kinds of jam
— in short, enough luxuries to supply half a regiment.
How Stanley felt that night as he looked on his happy,
contented followers, may be gathered from the following
extract of a letter he sent back next day to hi.s kind-
hearted deliverers. After acknowledging the reception
of the bountiful supplies, he says :
" Dear sirs — though strangers I feel we shall be great
friends, and it will be the study of my lifetime to re-
member my feelings of gratefulness when I first caught
sight of your supplies, and my poor faithful and brave
people cried out, Master, we are saved — food is com-
ing ! ' The old and the young men, the women and the
children lifted their wearied and worn-out frames and
began lustily to chant an extemporaneous song in honor
of the white people by the great salt sea (the Atlantic),
460 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
who had listened to their prayers. I had to rush to my
tent to hide the tears that would come, despite all my
attempts at composure.
"Gentlemen, that the blessing of God may attend
your footsteps, whithersoever you go, is the very earnest
prayer of
" Yours faithfully,
"HENRY M. STANLEY."
That day was given up to feasting and rejoicing, and
the next morning — a very different looking set of men
— they started forward. All this and the next day they
marched cheerfully over the rolling country, and on the
third, while slowly descending a hill, they saw a string
of hammocks approaching, and soon Stanley stood face
to face with four white men, and so long had he been
shut up in a country of blacks that they impressed him
strangely. After some time spent in conversation they
insisted on his getting into a hammock, and borne by
eight stout bearers he was carried into Boma, where
rest and abundance awaited him. He stayed in this
little village of a hundred huts only one day and then
embarked on a steamer for the mouth of the river, a
hundred or more miles away. Turning northward he
reached Kabinda, where one of the expedition died.
The reaction on these poor creatures after their long and
desperate struggle was great, and they fell back into a
sort of stupor. Stanley himself felt its influence, and
would fall asleep while eating. The sense of responsi-
bility, however, roused him, and he attempted in turn
to arouse his men. But, notwithstanding all his efforts,
four died of this malady without a name after he reached
Loanda, and three more afterwards on board the vessel
that carried them to Cape Town.
Stanley gave these poor fellows eight days' rest at
Kabinda, and then in a Portuguese vessel proceeded to
Loanda. Here the governor-general offered to send him
in a gun-boat to Lisbon. This generous offer was very
tempting, and many would have accepted it, but Stanley
AT CAPE TOWN. 46
would not leave his Arab friends who had shared his
toils and harships, and shown an unbounded trust in
his promise to see them back to Zanzibar. A passage
being offered them in the British ship Industry, to Cape
Town, Stanley accepted it, and, instead of going home
where comfort and fame awaited him, turned southward
with his Arab followers. At Cape Town he was re-
ceived with every mark of distinction, and delivered a
lecture there giving a brief account of the expedition,
especially that part of it relating to the Congo. A
British vessel here was placed at his disposal, and while
she was refitting Stanley gave his astonished Arabs a
ride on a railroad, on which they were whirled along at
the rate of thirty miles an hour. Of all the wonders
they had seen since they left Zanzibar, nearly three
years before, this was the greatest. Entertainments
were got up for them, suitable garments for that cold
latitude provided, till these poor, simple children of nature
were made dizzy by the attentions they received.
Among other things a special evening was set apart for
them in the theatre, and they were thrown into raptures
at the performance of the acrobats and made the build-
ing ring with their wild Arab shouts of approval.
At length, on the 6th of November, nearly two months
from the time they reached the Atlantic coast, they set
sail for Zanzibar. Stopping for two days at Natal to
coal, where every possible attention was lavished on
them, they again put to sea and stretched northward
through the Indian Ocean.
Day after day these now contented people lay around
on deck, drinking in health from the salt sea air. All but
one were shaking off every form of disease contracted in
their long wanderings. This was a woman who was slowly
d}ring,and who was kept alive alone by the thought of see-
ing her home once more. At last the hills of Zanzibar arose
over the sea, and as these untutored Arabs traced their
well-known outline, their joy was unbounded, and Stan-
ley felt repaid for the self-denial that had refused a pas-
sage home from Loanda and to stick by his faithful fol-
462 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OP AFRICA.
lowers to the last. Their excitement increased as the
caves and inlets grew more distinct, and at last the
cocoa-nut and mangrove-trees became visible. As the
vessel entered port their impatience could not be re-
strained, and the captain of the vessel, sympathizing
with their feelings, had no sooner dropped anchor than
he manned the boats, while the eager creatures crowded
the gangway and ladder, all struggling to be the first to
set foot on their native island. As boat-load after
boat-load reached the shore, with a common feeling
they knelt on the beach and cried "Allah!" and offered
up their humble thanksgiving to God, who had brought
them safely back to their homes.
The news of their arrival spread like wild-fire on
every side, and soon their relatives and friends came
flocking in from all directions, and glad shouts, and wild
embracings, and floods of glad tears, made a scene that
stirred Stanley's heart to its profoundest depths. Still,
there was a dark side to the picture. Scores of those
that came rushing forward to greet them, fell back
shedding tears, not of gladness, but of sorrow, for they
found not those whom they fondly hoped to meet. Of
the three hundred that had set out, neai'ly three years
before, only one hundred and twelve were left — and of
these, one, the poor sick woman, lived only long enough
to be clasped in her father's arms, when she died.
The great journey was ended, and Stanley, after pay-
ing off the living and the relatives of the dead, at last
started for home. As he was about to enter the boat
that was to bear him to the ship, the brave Uledi and
the chiefs shoved it from the shore, and seizing Stanley,
bore him through the surf on their shoulders. And
when the latter stood on deck, as the vessel slowly
steamed away, the last object he saw on shore through
his eyes, fill3d with tears, was his Arab friends watch-
ing him till he should disappear from sight.
An enthusiastic reception a waited him in England,
while from every part of the continent distinguished
honors were bestowed upon him.
• TESTIMONIALS/ 463
He had performed one of the most daring marches on
record — traced out, foot by foot, one of the largest lakes
of Central Africa, followed the mightiest river, which,
from the creation, has been wrapped in mystery, from
its source to its mouth, and made a new map of the
"dark continent."
Among the testimonials of the estimation in which
the great work he had accomplished was held, may be
mentioned the gift of the portrait of King Humbert of
Italy, by himself, with the superscription:
"ALL' INTREPEDO VIAGGATORE,
ENRICO STANLEY.
UMBERTO BE.
TO THE INTREPID TRAVELER,
HENRY STANLEY.
KING HUMBERT."
The Prince of Wales also complimented him warmly
on his achievements, while the Khedive of Egypt con-
ferred on him the high distinction of the Great Com-
mandership of the Order of Medjidie, with the star and
collar. The Royal Geographical Society, of London,
gave him a public reception, and made him Honorary
Corresponding Member, and the Geographical Societies
and Chambers of Commerce, of Paris, Italy and Mar-
seilles sent him medals. He was also made Honorary
Member of the Geographical Societies of Antwerp, Ber-
lin, Bordeaux, Bremen, Hamburg, Lyons, Marseilles,
Montpelier, Vienna, etc., etc. Honorary membership of
almost every distinguished society in England and on
the continent were conferred on him, and each and all
seemed to vie with each other in heaping honors on the
most intrepid traveler of modern times. Yet, as an
American, it gives us great pleasure to record the fol-
lowing sentiment, showing that Stanley takes especial
pride in being an American. He says : " For another
464 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
honor I have to express ray thanks — one which I may
be pardoned for regarding as more precious than all the
rest. The Government of the United States has crowned
my success with its official approval, and the unanimous
vote of thanks passed in both houses of legislature, has
made me proud for life of the expedition and its success."
Dinners and banquets followed wherever he went,
and he yet awaits the honor his own country will con-
fer on him when he once more shall visit it.
CHAPTER XLI.
The great eighteen hundred mile journey down the Lualaba — Discourag-
ed by timid Arabs at Nyangwe — Forward in spite of all — Terrible
tribes of cannibals dispute the way — The mid-African plateau —
Perils and difficulties in the region of the cataracts — Among the
friendly natives — A land of large towns and ivory temples — The
basin, watersheds, trend and length of the mighty river.
WE give the following instructive retrospect of
Stanley's explorations in his own words.
"There is no such river as the Congo, properly speak-
ing, in Africa. There is a country called Congo, occupy-
ing an extensive portion of mountain lands south of
the river, and running parallel with it, at a distance of
five or six miles from it, in that broad mountain range
which separates the West Coast land from the great
plains of the interior. Following the example of the
natives among whom they lived the Portuguese colon-
ists and fathers of the fifteenth century called it the
River of Congo, which was just as if the natives of
Middlesex county, England, called the Thames the
River of Middlesex. By the Kabindas, near the mouth
of the river, it is called the " Kwango," or, if you do not
like the African look of the spelling, the " Quango."
The natives of the cataract region also designate the
river below them as the Kwango, and those living be-
tween the Mosamba and Tala Mungongo Mountains call
LIVINGSTONE AND HIS TRAVELS. 465
the Nkutu River at its source the Kwango. As Congo
land does not occupy any very great portion of the
river bank it has no right to give its name to the river
any more than any other of the hundred different dis-
tricts by which it flows. By a small tribe near the
Equator I heard it called Ikutu Ya Kongo, which, in my
ignorance of the word Ikutu, I take to mean the river of
Congo, but after passing that tribe the name is known
no more, except in books and charts of the West coast
of Africa.
Dr. Livingstone, the discoverer of the Lualaba, devot-
ed the last years of his life to exploring the head- waters
of the Congo, the Chambezi and Karungwesi, which feed
Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo. He traced the Luapula as
far as Mweru Lake, but from MweruLake to the Luama
River no European knows anything from personal ob-
servation of its course or its affluents. Striking across
country from Tanganyika Lake Livingstone arrived at
Nyangwe, near which Arab depot the Lualaba, by which
name the Congo is known there, flows west of north
with a volume of 124,000 cubic feet of water per second.
Unable for want of men and means to extend his ex-
ploration, the renowned traveller left its further course
to conjecture and theory.
But before Livingstone had described the river at
Nyangwe no one/scientific or unscientific/imagined that
the Congo had such a great length. Though Captain
Tuckey's explorations in the neighborhood of Yellala
Falls, in the year 1816, furnished the elements for Dr.
Behm's computation respecting the volume of the lower
Congo, geographers waited for Livingstone's arrival at
Nyangwe and Dr. Schweinfurth's arrival at Monbulbu
before they came to the idea that the Lualaba must be
the Congo. Previous to this it is in the memory of
many how scientists were involved in discussions and
elaborate arguments to prove that the great Congo was
simply the united Kaseye and Quango, or Congo, which
was giving it a length of but 800 miles. Ah ! had Speke
become interested in this riv^er and had obtained one
466 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OP AFRICA.
glance at the mouth even, and had gleaned but one or
two facts from the natives, I believe that his rare arid
wonderful geographical instinct would have pencilled
out the course of this stream somewhat rearer the truth.
When Lieutenant Cameron arrived at Nyangwe he also
expressed a conviction that the Lualaba must be the
Congo ; but with the exception of a divergence of opinion,
he threw no newer light on its real course.
Sixteen months after the Lieutenant's departure for
the South I appeared at Nyangwe, and I then learned
definitely that he had abandoned the project of follow-
ing the Lualaba. As it seemed the most important task
of exploration I resolved to attempt it. Ignorant, fool-
ish and heathenish as Europeans may deem Arab traders
and African savages to be, the " Great River" has been
the subject of as many hot disputes under the eaves of
the mud houses of Nyangwe and the cane huts of the
river fishermen as it was under the dome at Brighton or
the classic roof of Burlington House, and my enthusiasm
for this new field of exploration — the unknown half of
Africa and the mighty river that " went no man knew
where" — was stimulated as much by the earnestness
with which Arabs and natives discussed it as though
each member of the Royal Geographical Society had be-
stowed a scientific blessing on me and unanimously
wished me success.
Nyangwe is in latitude 4 deg. 16 min. south. If you
follow the parallel of latitude 4 deg. east to the Indian
Ocean you will observe there are 13 J degrees of longi-
tude or 810 geographical miles, If you will measure
the distance between Nyangwe and the Atlantic, along
the same parallel, you will find there are 15£ degrees of
longitude, or 930 geographical miles. The eastern half
of Africa is generally known, but that western half was
altogether unknown. To any one arriving from the
East Coast with the love of exploring unknown wilds
what a field lay extended before him ! The largest half
of Africa one wide, enormous blank — a region of fable
and mystery — a continent of dwarfs and cannibals and
THE PERILS OF AN EXPLORER. 467
gorillas, through which the great river flowed on its un-
fulfilled mission to the Atlantic ! Darkness and clouds
of ignorance respecting its course everywhere ? What
terrible dread thing is it that so pertinaciously prevents
explorers from penetrating and revealing its mysteries !
It struck me thus also, as though a vague, indescribable
something lay ahead.
I believe I was made half indifferent to life by my
position; otherwise I doubt if I should have deliber-
ately rushed upon what I was led to believe — as my
predecessors were — was almost certain death. I had
not anticipated hearing such forbidding things as I did
hear of the regions north or meeting such obstacles as I
met. Neither of my predecessors could obtain canoes
at Nyangwe, nor was I more successful ; and the Arabs
at Nyangwe, pretending to be very solicitous about my
safety, said they could not think of permitting my de-
parture. But my fate seemed to drive me on. I list-
ened to their stories about how many caravans attempt-
ing to open trade below had been annihilated, but I had
calculated my resources and had measured my strength
and confidence, and I declared to the Arabs that I in-
tended to try it.
I was quite prepared to hear that I should be mur-
dered and eaten, and that my people would desert ; that
I would meet opposition of such a nature that I never
dreamed of, and that they (the Arabs) could not listen
to such a project. Being prepared, these things did not
surprise me. It was perhaps time I should be murdered ;
it was perhaps impossible to penetrate the wild, wide
land before me, but it was no reason why I should not
try and put the practicability of its exploration to the
test. " If you did not try it for more than a week or so,
how do you know it was impossible ?" people might
ask me, and very rightly to. " You say there are can-
nibals who will eat me. It may be true; but I have
one comfort, they cannot eat me before they kill me.
Can they ?" "No, certainly not." "You say they will
fight me. I have had wars enough already on this ex-
468 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
pedition, and I should not like to have another war ;
but what can I do if savages will attack me ? I have a
few young men who are aware of what we can do in the
way of fighting, and we do not propose to sleep or lee
any man draw his knife across our throats without re-
monstrating in a most energetic manner. Granted that
we shall have fighting to do, what else is there to fear?"
" Oh, plenty of things ; but you will see." We did see,
it is true.
The journey over the hitherto unknown half of Africa
now being finished, the difficulties and terrors, wars
after wars, troubles after troubles, toil upon toil, the dis-
may and despair being ended, it cannot be wondered
that we breathe a little freer and feel more relief now
than when we were about to begin our journey. Our
experiences have been very sad and dreadful, and we
have paid dearly for the temerity and obstinacy with
which we held on. You might cull all the terrible ex-
periences that African travelers relate in their books,
and united they would scarcely present such a list of
difficulties as we could show. Our losses, nevertheless,
have not been so great comparatively. Our journey's
length from Nyangwe is nearly one thousand eight
hundred miles ; our losses in men are one European and
thirty-four Wanguana. Captain Tuckey lost eighteen
Europeans and eleven colored men in about three
months. Mungo Park lost his own life and the lives
of all his people, and out of Peddie's Niger expedition
the commander and all the principal officers lost their
lives and the expedition was broken up. Much earnest
effort was necessary to break through, and there is no
doubt that if we had not made it some explorer, with a
little more determination and less nonsense in him,
would have done it, and his troubles would have been
much the same.
A REMINISCENCE OF FRANCIS POCOKE.
But I have paid for my triumph with one of my band
whose loss almost causes me to regret that I also did not
permit myself to be dissuaded from entering the unknown
EEM1NISCENCB OF POCOKE. 469
regions. Though born in an humble sphere of life
Francis Pocoke was an extraordinary man ; a man to
make himself respected and beloved ; a man of many
fine qualities, of cool, steadfast courage, that knew no
quailing; of great manliness, a cheerful, amiable com-
panion : a gentle, pious soul, a staunch friend in trouble.
One instance of his courage is worth relating. The
natives of Abaka prepared to attack us and advanced
for that purpose. I stood up in the boat to speak to them,
and while engaged in conversation with one of the
chiefs a canoe crept up near Frank's, and Frank was
made aware that he was a target for two or three guns,
and lifted his gun to fire or to threaten them. Seeing
this, that it would precipitate us into another fight,
before exhausting all endeavours for peace, I cried out
to Frank to drop his gun. He instantly obeyed, and
permitted them to approach within thirty yards of him
without making the least motion, though every one was
exceedingly anxious. Finding that his eyes were fasten-
ed on them, two of the savages that were aiming at
Frank suddenly changed their minds, and gave my
boat's crew the benefit of their attentions, firing among
us, wounding four of my best men, though fortunately
not fatally, and the third emptied his gun among
Frank's people, wounding one. He then received per-
mission to avenge himself, which he did in an effective
manner.
It has been a custom from a remote period, with mer-
chants and European travellers desirous of penetrating
inland from the West Coast to give "rum dashes."
Rum is an article unknown on the East Coast, and I
cannot but think that it acts perniciously on the insig-
nificant chiefs of small villages. We found them ex-
ceedingly bumptuous and not easily mollified without
rum. Having almost crossed Africa we could not gratify
their demands for rum, and had to stand firm and reso-
lute in our determination to pass through these small
tribes ; and though we were not compelled to use force,
there was frequently a disposition among them to oppose
470 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
by arms our journey. Neither had we the gaudy uni-
form coats of a bygone century to gratify their love of
tinsel and finery.
Still, there was here no rupture of the peace. We
were allowed to proceed without violence, more as strange
curiosities than anything else, I believe, and as people
who had come from wild lands whither the white people
had never ventured before. Possibly on that account
there may have been a small feeling of respect mingled
with their jealous regard of us. I speak, of course,
about the people called Basuudi and those inhabiting
Eastern Mbinda. The tribes above Babwende and
Bateke were more kindly disposed. I am indebted to
them for many a laborious service performed for very
little pay, and during five months our intercouse with
them was of the most amicable kind. Those of the
south side vied with those of the north side of the river
in the cataract districts to assist us. Food was generally
more plentiful on the south side, and, in many instances,
the natives were more friendly.
The entire area the Congo drains embraces about
860,000 square miles. Its source is in the high plateau
south of Lake Tanganyika, in a country called Bisa, or
Ubisa, by the Arabs. The principal tributary feeding
Bemba Lake is the Chambezi, a broad, deep river, whose
extreme sources must be placed about longitude 33 deg.
east. Bemba Lake, called Bangweolo by Livingstone, its
discoverer, is a large body of shallow water, about
b,400 square miles in extent. It is the residuum of an
enormous lake that in very ancient times must have
occupied an area of 500,000 square miles, until by some
great convulsion the western maritime mountain chain
was riven asunder, and the Congo began to roar through
the fracture. Issuing from Bemba Lake, the Congo is
known under the name of Luapula, which, after a course
of nearly two hundred miles, empties into Lake Mweru,
a body of water occupying an area of about one thou-
sand eight hundred square miles. Falling from Mweru,
it receives the name of Lualaba from the natives of Rua.
THE COURSE OF THE CONGO. 471
In Northern Rua it receives an important affluent called
the Kamalondo. Flowing in a direction north by west,
it sweeps with a breadth of about one thousand four
hundred yards by Nyangwe, Manyema, in latitude 2o
deg. 15 min. 45 sec. south, longitude. 26 deo-. 5 min. east,
and has an altitude of about fourteen hundred and fifty
feet above the o'cean. Livingstone, having lost two
weeks in his dates, appears, according to Stanford's map
of 1874, to have placed Nyange in latitude 4 deg. 1 min.
south, longitude 24 deg. 16 min. east, but this wide
difference may be due to the carelessness of the draughts-
man. Those who feel interested in it should compare it
with the latest map issued by Stanford or the map pub-
lished with the traveller's last journals. The distance
the Congo has flowed from its extreme source in Eastern
Bisa to Nyangwe Manyema is about eleven hundred
miles. Lake Ulenge I inquired very industriously for,
but I am unable to confirm what Livingstone appears
to have heard from Abed-bin-Salem and Mohammed-
bin-Said, his informants. Kamalondo River, which runs
through the Lualaba, is a lacustrine river, and I am told
it has several small lakes in its course. Probably Ulenge
may be a name given to one of these small lakes.
At Nyangwe Manyema, the Congo is distinguished by
various names. To prevent confusion, it is best to
adopt the spelling given by the European discoverer of
the river — viz., Lualaba. A few hours north of Nyang-
we the Lualaba inclines east of north. It meets impedi-
ments. High spurs from the Uregga hills bristle across
the river and wild scenes of falls and foamy water meet
the eye. Near these cataracts very impracticable sav-
ages are found, who resent in a ferocious manner the ap-
pearance of strangers. Arabs have paid terribly for
their intrusion.
Along the river banks on both sides dwell the fisher-
men called Wainya — a most singular tribe, singularly
cowardly, but also singularly treacherous and crafty,
and utterly impenetrable to the usual "soft soap,"
"sugar and honey" style. North of Uvinza is a power-
80
472 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
ful tribe of another kind, of superior mettle ; not habitu-
ally cannibalistic, but very aggressive. Each time
Arabs have ventured to enter their region they have
met with decided repulse. This tribe is called by
the Arabs Warongora Meno, by themselves Wabroire.
They inhabit a large extent of country on the right bank.
On the left bank are still the Wagenya, which, as you
proceed west, introduce you to the warlike Bakusu,
whereas, at all hours, the traveller must be a man of
action. Upon these gentry the approaches of a whole
congress of bishops and missionaries could have no
effect, except as native "roast beef." The Lualaba
clings to longitude 26 deg. east. It begins to receive
great affluents, the principal of which along the right
bank are the Lira, Urmeli or Hindi, the Lowa, and the
Kankora. On the left bank are the Ruiki, the Kasuka
and the Sumami, though there are scores of creeks and
streams constantly visible as you proceed down the river
from either bank.
For a thorough comprehension of the subject, without
fatigue of study, you must understand that from the
moment the Congo issues from Lake Bemba, it skirts,
at a distance of two hundred miles or so, the mountain
chain which shuts in the Tanganyika on the west, and
— as if its bed was related to the same system by which
the great lakes, Nyassa, Tanganyika and the Albert, are
disposed — it still clings to the base of that extraordi-
nary mountain region long after it has left the parallel
of latitude of the north end of Lake Tanganyika. By a
series of powerful affluents it drains the entire western
versant of the lake regions as far north as 4 deg. north
latitude, while along the counterslope torrents and un-
important streams rind their steep course to the lakes
Albert, Kivu and Tanganyika.
At the Equator the great river which has been the
immediate recipient of all tributaries from the east, and
has skirted the western base of the lake mountain
region between east longitudes 25 deg. and 20 deg., sinks
into a lower bed and 4turns northwest, having reached
THE ARUWIMI RIVER. 473
the great plains which extend between the maritime
mountain region and the lake mountain region.
The service the great river hitherto performed for
itself — viz., to receive the northern tributaries dis-
charged down the western region now divolves upon
the Aruwimi, the second affluent of the Congo, which
no doubt, at a future time will prove of immense value,
as it is open to any vessel that may be successfully
launched on the upper Congo. Below the junction of
the Aruwimi our intercourse with the cannibals of
these lands was of so precarious a nature that we
dared not continue our exploration along the banks,
because they involved us in conflicts of the most des-
perate natui'e with powerful tribes. For this reason I
have no doubt we passed a great many important
tributaries. Besides, it spread over such an enormous-
ly wide bed, with sometimes a dozen channels, that
though I frequently passed whaC appeared to me to be
new rivers, I preferred to construct my chart free from
hypothetical streams. An almost certain guide to me as
I journeyed down river along one of the many broad
channels in distinguishing the main from the islands was
that the former was inhabited, the islands below the
Aruwimi rarely.
When forced by famine to risk an encounter with
the ferocious savages I made for the right bank, and op-
portunities were then given me to explore. But the in-
terests of humanity and the interests of geography were
ever at variance in this region. The natives had never
heard of white men; they had never seen strangers bold-
ly penetrating their region, neither could they possibly
understand what advantage white men or black men
could gain by attempting to begin an acquaintance. It
is the custom for no tribe to penetrate below or above
the district of any other tribe. Trade has hitherto been
conducted from hand to hand, tribe to tribe, country to
country : and as the balance of power is pretty fairly
maintained, only three tribes have as yet been able to
overcome opposition. These are the Warunga, Wa Man-
gala and the Wyzanzi.
474 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
After our battle with Mangala we showed a preference
for the left bank and soon aflar discovered the greatest
affluent of the Congo, the Ikelemba, which I take to be
the Kas-sye. It is nearly as important as the main
river itself. The peculiar color of its water, which is
like that of tea, does not commingle with the silvery
water of the Congo until after a distance of 130 miles
below the confluence of the two great streams. It is the
union of these two rivers which gives its light brown
color to the Lower Congo.
A little after passing longitude 18 deg. east we come
to the river called by Europeans, on their vague charts
of the Congo region, the "Kwango," a deep stream, about
five hundred yards wide, entering the Congo through
lines of hills which, receding from the neighborhood,
assumes the altitude of mountains. This Kwango is
known to the natives as Ibari Nkutu, or the river of
Nkutu. A little west of longitude 17 deg. east the
great river, which spreads itself out into enormous
breadths, slowly contracts, becomes interrupted by linea
of rocky relics of hill points, rocky islands or bars of lava
rock, and thunders down steep after steep along a dis-
tance of nearly one hundred and eighty miles to the ma-
jestic and calm Lower Congo.
In these 180 miles it has a fall of 585 feet, according
to boiling point. The cataracts and rapids along this
entire distance may be passed overland by a month's
easy march along either the south side or the north side.
We encountered no difficulty with the peoples of this
region. Once the cataracts are passed the explorer may
push his way to Koruru, I sincerely believe, or to the
southern ridge of the Great Basin ; and if he can find
cause to quarrel with the lower tribes he must be charged
with having sought it. If we take into consideration
the fact that each day's march introduces one to fresh
chiefs and clans, and that a cordial reception will be
given to him by all, we are compelled to respect these
very various people still more for their amiability and
gentle manners with strangers.
ADVICE TO FUTURE EXPLORERS. 475
The Basundis, perhaps, may give trouble to the tra-
veler, but, being well supplied with cloth and rum, and
using tact and great patience, the traveler just starting
from the West Coast has a better chance of ingratiating
himself with them than 1, who had exhausted my cloth
and bends and all things to win particular favor. What
we possessed were simply a few cloths and beads to
purchase food from the natives on the south side. As
travelers bound for the Great Basin must in future start
from the West Coast, and may very probably take the
Congo route — as they ought to do, for we have shown
its practicability — they perhaps will pardon me if I sug-
gest that a want of firmness and perseverance has caused
most of the expeditions from the West Coast to collapse.
Neither Bacongo nor Basundi, I feel convinced, will use
force to oppose, and there is no cause to be frightened
by big words. There are no martial or ferocious savages
in the neighborhood of the West Coast on the north or
south side of the Congo after passing Yellallas Falls. If
I, with my knowledge of the character of the peoples of
this region, were bound on an exploration of the Great
Basin, I should undoubtedly prefer the south bank be-
cause of its greater supplies of food. In our descent of
the lower cataracts we suffered terribly from want of
food when the violence of the rapids happened to keep
us on the north side.
As I have stated above, in rough numbers the entire
area drained by the river of Congo, or the River Kwan-
go, as it should be called, is about eight hundred and
sixty thousand square miles, 450,000 miles of which is
almost taken up entirely by the great basin lying be-
tween the lake and maritime regions. The length of
the Congo is about two thousand nine hundred miles,
divided thus : — From the source to Nyangwe, 1,100
miles ; from Nyangwe to the Atlantic, nearly one thou-
sand eight hundred miles.
My experiences of the river date from the 1st of No-
vember, 1876, to the llth of August, 1877, a period of
over nine months. Its highest rise lasted from the 8th
476 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of May to the 22nd of May, and was caused by the peri-
odical rains known to us on the East Coast as the
Masika. While the flood is of great advantage to the
navigation above the cataracts of the maritime region,
where the river assumes a lacustrine breadth, it vastly
increases its terrors at the cataracts, because of the
trebled fury with which the swollen water sweepsdown the
steep incline of its bed through the rocky narrows to the
sea. The depth of the rise varies naturally, owing to
the great disproportion of the breadth of the stream.
Up river it is about eight feet, but in the narrows it is
from twenty to fifty feet. In some places of the cataract
district the rise was as much as fifteen inches per diem,
but when the river was at that point only 500 yards
wide. Whatever efforts may be made by the explorer
in future in the commercial development of this river,
no one need try to ascend through any part of the catar-
act region by means of any kind of floating vessel. It
might be done, since very few things are impossibilities;
but the ascent mainly must be overland, as nothing
floating could climb six, ten, twenty and twenty -five
foot falls.
The Congo river is the Amazon of Africa, the Nile is
the Mississippi. While the latter has greater length the
Congo could furnish water to three Niles. It requires
enormous breadth or great depth to restrain all this im-
petuosity. Though the Nile is a most valuable river
for commerce the Congo is sr-ill better. The former has
its course frequently interrupted by cataracts, but the
Congo fortuitately has all its falls and rapids in two
series — the upper, between east longitude 25 deg. and
26 deg., consisting of six great falls, terminating all navi-
gation that might be established above the lower series,
which consists of sixty-two important falls and rapids,
though there are many minor rapids I do not think nec-
essary to include in the list. I remember when about
starting from Nyangwe I told Frank that I hoped I
should find the cataracts in a "lump."
Once above the lower cataracts we have the half of
o
u
~
^
T.
X
o
s
x
THE VALUABLE PRODUCT CONS OF AFRICA. 477
Africa before us with no interruption, and not, like the
Lower Nile regions, deserts of sand, but one vast, popu-
lous plain, so populous, indeed, that, excepting Ugogo, I
know no part of Africa so thickly inhabited. The usual
term village is a misnomer for most of the collections of
dwellings; they are towns in some places two miles long,
with one or more broad streets between the rows of neat,
well-built houses. The houses are superior to anything
in East Central Africa. The natives are different also.
Every thought seems engrossed with trade, and fairs
and markets are established everywhere.
There has been a suspicion generally entertained that
ivory must soon become a curiosity ; but I can vouch
that at least it will not be so for three or four genera-
tions. This is the land of ivory "temples," of idol en-
closures, where the commonest utensils for domestic use
are made of ivory. The people do not seem able to com-
prehend why any one should take the trouble to pay for
it when it is so plentiful in each village.
The entire plain is also distinguished for its groves of
the oil palm. In Ukusu there are huge forests of this
tree. Almost everything that Africa produces is to be
obtained in the Congo basin — cotton, india-rubber,
groundnuts, sesamum, copal (red and white), palm ker-
nels and palm oil, ivory, &c. By means of the Congo a
journey to the gold and cotton district of Katanga is
rendered moreover, very easy.
The Congo River gives 110 miles below and 835 miles
above the cataracts of navigable water, while the great
affluents north and south, traversing the basin, will give
over one thousand two hundred miles, and perhaps much
more. The greatest affluent, the Ikelemba, is over a
thousand miles in length; the Nkutu River is over
seven hundred, the Aruwirni must be over five hundred,
while there are four or five others which, by their breadth,
I should judge to be navigable for great distances. I
would not advise any solitary explorer to venture near
the cannibal lands unless he wishes trouble, but the
influence of trade, once it is established on the
478 EXPLOKATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
equitable basis, will soon reduce those natives also to
reason.
A trader ascending the river has a better chance of
ingratiating himself with the natives than an explorer
descending a river from a region whither no trading
native has dared to venture. As he must halt a consid-
erable time for business at each capital his reputation
for being just and good will precede him and bring him
hosts of customers. Indeed, the great difficulty will be
to restrain their inordinate love of barter. The islands
on the river will afford him safe camps and quiet retreats,
and it will be better ior the trader and the native to
occupy island depots near the mainland until mutual
confidence is thoroughly established.
I feel convinced that the Congo question will become
a political question in time. As yet, however, no Euro-
pean Power seems to have the right to control. Portu-
gal claims it because she discovered its mouth; England,
America and France — refuse to recognize her right, and
express their determination, in plain terms, to dispute
her assuming possession of the river. If it were not that
I fear to damp any interest you may have in Africa or
in this magnificent river by the length of my letters I
could show you very strong reasons why it would be a
politic deed to settle this Congo question immediately.
I could prove to you that the possessor of the Congo,
despite the cataracts, would absorb to himself the trade
of the whole of the enormous basin behind, which ex-
tends across thirteen degrees of longitude and over four-
teen degrees of latitude. ,The Congo is and will be, the
grand highway of commerce to West Central Africa. If
so, why should it be left to dispute as to who shall rule
the lower river and its banks ? Why should it be left
to the mercy of the piratical Mussolongos ? I hear that
British men-of-war have been castigating those scoun-
drels lately with bombshells in a more determined man-
ner than I have been punishing the piratical cannibals
on the eastern border of the Great Basin.
But merely castigating these people is not enough ;
COMMERCE UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 479
there should be vessels of war to prevent such deeds as
the destruction of European ships ; and the question is,
What power shall be deputed in the name of humanity
to protect the youth of commerce in this little known
world ? An explorer is seldom called upon for the ex-
pression of his views, nor would I venture on this ground
or meddle in the matter if I did not feel so very strong
an interest in Africa. But I will present you with an
example of what might come to pass if the question be
not settled. A number of European merchants interested
in African commerce construct houses and stores and de-
pots on the Congo, say on either bank, north or south.
The natives, troubled with indigestion or bad dreams,
take it into their heads that it would be a fine thing to
rob the white people and burn their dwellings and
depots and murder them. The thing is done, pande-
monium is re-enacted, the newspspers and public opin-
ion hear the news, and expressions of "shame" on all
the Powers interested are very loud and strong. British
men-of-war hurry up and bombard everybody, or, to
use an expressive though vulgar phrase, the}- "knock
things into a cocked hat;" and perhaps the punishment
exceeds the offence, because the innocent would be in-
volved in the destructive fury. Or, as the case might
easily be, suppose the European merchants capable of
defending themselves, and that by a little strategy they
capture the conspirators and doom them, one and all,
without mercy, to death by chaining them in gangs,
young and old, and drown them off hand in the deep
water of the Congo. What would be said of this? I
do not say it has or has not been done. I merely state
what might happen. 1 put a possible case before the en-
lightened reader. Would you be surprised to hear that
it has been done ? What ought, then, to be planned to
prevent Mussolongos and natives, with bad dreams and
deranged indigestion, from strangling lawful, legitimate
and humane commerce ? What ought to be done to pre-
vent pitiless, vengeful merchants from placing them-
selves under the ban of Christians?
480 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF A.FKICA.
Let England arrange with Portugal at once to pro-
claim sovereignty over the Congo River to prevent the
sensibilities of the world being shocked some day when
least expected.
I have hinted a few strong reasons why the question
ought to be settled.
You may now divine the nature of our struggles to
gain civilisation, of our desperate battles with the canni-
bals, of the patience required to cross the cataract dis-
tricts with our fleet, of our daily terrors and griefs at
the loss of dear and valued comrades during the passage
of fifty-seven falls and rapids that interrupt the flow of
the mighty river through the maritime region. I have
told you little about sickness, of the insalubrity of some
portions we traversed, of the intense gloom and de-
pression we experienced in the doleful regions of Uzimba
and Urinza, and of the severe fatigues we have under-
gone, which have bowed our manhood and reduced our
energies; but you may imagine them.
I have endeavored to take you rapidly through a few
of our thousand and one experiences as we struggled
through the dense darkness and mystery of the un-
known into light. A few exciting contests I have brief-
ly described — contests with human demons who delight-
ed in craft, fraud, treachery and cruelty, who regarded
us much as we regarded the noble beasts that roved
over the plains of Usukuma, as so many heads of season-
ed game to be slaughtered and carved, and broiled and
eaten. They attacked us with spears, assegays, poison-
ed arrows and muskets, and at one time they actually
surrounded our camp with hidden nets. They drove
poisoned sticks into the. ground, so that in the charge to
scatter them from the neighbourhood of our camp our
people might have their feet pierced with these instru-
ments of torture. On all sides death stared us in the
face, cruel eyes watched us day and night, and a thous-
and bloody hands were stretched out to take advantage
of the least carelessness. We defended ourselves like
men who knew that pusillanimity would be our ruin —
"SENNENE! SENNENE!" 481
that mercy was unknown to these savages. Out of
chanty and regard for my own people, and myself as
well, on whom developed the responsibility of taking
the expedition through these savage regions, I wished
naturally that it might have been otherwise, and. looked
keenly for any sign of forbearance and peace, as I saw
my African comrades drop one by one from my side in
the oblivion of the terrible wilds. We thank Heaven
that these dark days are over.
Yet we had some briefest intervals of pleasure even
during that stormy period. One pacific tribe — the day
after a desperate battle with a martial tribe above, who,
it seemed, had oppressed them greatly — warned by the
huge drums that sounded the approach of strangers,
turned out in dense crowds along the river banks, while
the boldest of their warriors manned their enormous ca-
noes and bore down on us, taking care, however, to cry
out the magic word, " Sennene ! " winch caused us to
drop our guns and echo the happy word with such fervor
of lungs that the thousands on the banks, who might have
been a little distrustful, instantly distinguished its
hearty sincerity, and repeated it with equal fervor until
for a time, even after they had ended, the forests across
the river seemed to thunder mysteriously, " Sennene !
Sennene !" We dropped our stone anchors abreast, and
near enough to the vast crowds on the banks, and in-
vited the warriors on the canoes to approach.
From childish shyness they would not come nearer
than fifty yards or so, and two old women — ladies, I
ought to call them — " manned" a small canoe, and,
coming straight to my boat. tl|ey brought their tiny
vessel alongside, and after an introductory laugh offered
us palm wine and a couple of chickens ! Presently the
warriors, shamed out of their shyness — it was not fear
— drew their canoes alongside — great, enormous things,
twice the length of our boat, and completely hid, almost
crushed, the tiny canoe of the women ; but the most
pleasing sight to me, to which my eyes were constantly
attracted, was the faces of the two women, and the tiny
482 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
messenger of peace and comfort to us in the midst of
our days of trial. On looking into the great war canoes
of this tribe I observed with pleasure that there was
not one spear or bow and arrow in any of them, which
caused me to confirm my opinion of their tact and deli-
cacy, to look more attentively at the crowds on the bank,
and there was not one weapon of war visible anywhere.
Presently I observed one huge canoe make off' for the
shore, load gourds of palm wine and baskets of potatoes,
and return, each man singing enthusiastically. The po-
totoes were for me, the palm wine for my people.
When I asked how it happened that they were so
kind to strangei's when we had fought three times the
day before, they said that though the drums above the
river summoned them to fight us, some of their people
had been up river fishing among the islands the day
before, and the drums had caused them to hide them-
selves and see what took place. They had seen us talk
to the natives, offer cloths and beads, and had seen them
refuse all proffers and fight us. " They are always fight-
ing us, and stealing our people, but we are not strong
enough to kill them. This morning when you left that
island where you slept last night we sent very early a
canoe with two slaves — a boy and a woman in it — with
potatoes and palm wine; if you were bad people you
would have caught that canoe and made those two slaves
your own, but when you allowed it to pass you, saying
1 Senuene,' we knew that you were good people, and we
did not beat our drum for war, but for peace. If you
had taken that little canoe this morning you would have
had to fight us now. You killed our enemies yesterday,
and you did not injure our two slaves this morning.
You are our friends."
Throughout our entire journey, unless all opportu-
nities for friendly intercourse were closed by furious
onsets, and all minds were engrossed with the neces-
sity of immediate and desperate defence, we made over-
tures of conciliation and friendship. I can recall many
and many an instance when kindness, sociability and
STANLEY'S KINDNESS TO THE NATIVES. 4S3
forgiveness won many tribes from a suspicious and men-
acing attitude to sincere friendship ?.nd open, candid
conduct. Many tribes have, on my departure from
among them, implored me to return soon, and have ac-
companied me long distances as though loath to part
•with me. Others, in their desire to see their friend
again, have brought their medicines and idols before me
and conjured me by their sacred character to tell their
white brothers how glad they would be to see them and
trade with them and make eternal friendship with them;
and one king, whose friendship must be secured before
any explorer can enter the Congo Basin, outdid me in
generosity with such delicacy and tact that I looked
upon him, and still regard him. as a phenomenon of be-
nignity.
Large as the number of cataracts and rapids mention-
ed above may be, we have discovered that the great high-
way of commerce to broad Africa is the Congo, and
happy will that power seem which shall secure for it-
self a locality for a depot at the extreme limit of the
navigation of the Lower Congo, and establish there a
people such as the freed slaves, to assist it in enriching
itself, the poor races employed in the service, and the
redemption of the splendid central basin of the con-
tinent by sound and legitimate commerce.
So far as I have been permitted to observe I find
that Eastern Central Africa and Western Central Africa
must be acted on by two* different influences. While all
Africans, naturally, as savages, would more readily ap-
preciate the trader than the missionary, still the mission-
ary would be the most powerful agent in East Central
Africa; while in West Central Africa the trader must
precede the missionary. The reasons for this are obvi-
ous at a glance.
In East Central Africa the people are g-vthered under
powerful emperors and kings. The great Empire of
Uganda, which has an estimated population of 5,000,-
000; the great Empire of Ruanda, with an equal estima-
ed population; the Empire of Urundi, with about
484; EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
3,000,000 ; the Kingdoms of Usagara, the two Usuis,
Unyoro, Karagwe and Usongora and Ukerewe — all of
these empires and kingdoms governed despotically, sub-
ject to the will of their respective monarchs. In his
worthy efforts for the improvement of these benighted
races the missionary, using a discreet judgment, can
soon secure the good will, assistance and protection of
the supreme powers of these countries.
In West Central Africa, from Lake Tanganyika to the
mouth of the Congo River, the people are gathered in
small, insignificant districts, towns or villages, each
governed by its respective chief. As we approached
nearer the West Coast the explorer dares not begin to
classify the people after the usual manner employed in
Africa, as the districts are so small, the population so
great, the number of villages so confusing, that there are
as many kings ruling over a hundred-acre plot as there
are officials in Greece, all animated by an intense thirstfor
trade and distinguished for their idolatry, hostility to
each other and foolish pride. The love of trade and bar-
ter is, however, universal.
Setting aside the contributions of our expedition to
geography, the grandest discovery it has made is the
great field for trade it has opened to the world, especi-
ally to the English, French, Germans and Americans,
the English especially, for greater attention to those
fabrics and wares purchased by Africans on the West
Coast. In round numbers you have thrown open to
commerce an area embracing over six hundred thousand
square miles, which contains nearly two thousand miles of
an uninterrupted course of water communication, divid-
ed among the Upper Congo and its magnificent afflu-
ents.
For those interested in geography I may say that one
time I never dreamed that you could hear anything of
me until some time in 1878 or 1879, for my wonderful
river continued a northerly course two degrees north of
the Equator, sometimes taking great bends easterly,
until I thought sometimes that I should soon be in the
THE TOUGHEST FIGHT OF ALL. 485
neighborhood of the Mountains of the Moon, in which
case I should either have to resolve, after reaching five
degrees north latitude, to force my way toward Gondo-
koro through the wild Baris who are fighting with Gor-
don Pasha, or continue on my way north to some great
lake, and ultimately perchance the Niger.
At the Equator the Lualaba turned north-north-east,
as if it really had, by some unknown means — unless all
aneroids and barometers were wrong — a connection with
the Albert Nyanzi, and I hurrahed rather prematurely
for Livingstone. This north-north-east course did not
last long, for the Lualaba was simply collecting its force
to tilt against a mountain, where, of course, there was
the wildest scene imaginable.
We had good cause to remember this river, for in
midstream we had the second toughest fight of all. A
fleet of canoes, fifty-four in number, came down on us
with such determined ferocity that four of our ca-
noes began to give way and run. One of the enemy's
canoes contained over eighty paddlers: a platform on the
bow, tor the best warriors, held ten men ; eight steers-
men, with ten feet paddles, steered the great war vessel,
while from stem to stern there ran a broad planking,
along which the principal chiefs danced up and down,
giving rehearsal of -vhat they proposed to do with us.
In half an hour the fight was decided in our favor.
Another thing I must hint to you about — the in-
correctness, or rather the infamous inaccuracy of the
chart of Western Africa. The chart-maker may be
to blame, after all; but if he can produce his authority
and the source of his information he is saved from
the serious charge of having published much of his
work upon hearsay, without marking his information
as " such." I dare not imagine Captain Tuckey to
be responsible for these errors. I should much rather
accuse Portuguese traders, who might be presumed to be
very uncertain about the meaning of the words " geo-
graphical accuracy." In plainer terms, nothing that can
be seen on your map of Western Africa twenty miles
486 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
east of Yel!ala Falls is correct. It is a simple show of
names that I hear nothing about and a wild wavy line
marked deeply black which pretends to be the Congo.
We have also just above the Falls of Yellala a sketch of
a river four or five miles wide, with islands, the whole
of which I shall be able to show you is sheer nonsense,
and an}'body who doubts it need only spend £100 to
satisfy himself by a personal investigation. Besides the
enormous amount of internal satisfaction he will receive
he will have a pleasant five days' walk through a pic-
turesque country.
With a feeling of intense gratitude to Divine Provi-
dence, Who has so miraculously saved me and my peo-
ple from the terrors of slavery, from the pangs of cruel
death at the hands of cannibals, after many months' daily
toil through fifty-seven cataracts, falls and rapids — Who
inspired us with manliness sufficient to oppose the hosts
of savages, and, out of thirty-two battles, brought us
safe across unknown Africa to the Atlantic Ocean — the
work of the Anglo-American Expedition has been per-
formed to the very letter.
The story is now told, how we crossed the hitherto
unknown half of Africa; how we journeyed 1,800 from
Nyangwe to the ocean. You have had a glimpse of the
wide wild land that lies between that Arab depot and
the Atlantic.''
s»
CETEWAYO— KING OF THE ZULUS.
CHAPTER XLII.
THE CONGO AND THE .FOUNDING OF A FREE STATE IN
AFRICA.
The Sequel of Stanley's Explorations — Europe's Desire for Commercial
Colonization — Stanley Engaged to Carry Out the Plans — He Again
Leaves for Africa — Sails Up the Congo — Trading Warehouses — Road-
making — Sick with Fever — Natives Keen for Trade — Returns to Eu-
rope— Appointed Governor of Free State — Missions — Extent of
Country.
THE reader has followed with much interest the ac-
count which is given of Stanley's intrepid journey
through the Dark Continent. We now give the sequel
of that exploration — the founding of a Free State, under
the auspices of Christian civilization, in the heart of
Africa. This "story," as written by Stanley, has just been
published simultaneously in eight different languages,
arid is attracting the attention of the world as few books
ever have. The work which it describes may prove to
be one of the greatest movements of the age. Future
ages may look back to this event as we now regard the
planting of the English Colonies in Virginia and in Mas-
sachusetts Bay. ^
Stanley's account of the Congo had excited in Europe
a strong desire to attempt the opening of that great river
to commercial colonization. Leopold II., King of Belgium,
took the lead of an association composed of Belgians,
Dutch, Germans, Frenchmen, Englishmen , Americans, and
others to prosecute this important object.
Stanley, during the year 1878, was consulted on the
plans, and engaged to carry them out by an expedition to
proceed from the west coast of Africa up the Congo, to
select sites for the stations, entering into friendly nego-
tiations with all the native chiefs of tribes, and to form
establishments for peaceful trade. He first, however,
488 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
went to Zanzibar, on the east coast, in order to obtain the
services of a sufficient number of trusty men of the same
class as his followers in the expedition of 1876 and 1877.
He had a flotilla of steamboats, built of steel, and made
so as to be taken to pieces for occasional carriage over-
land ; those which proved most useful were 42 ft. or 43
ft. long and 7 ft or 8 ft. wide, drawing 11 inches water,
with engines of six horse-power ; one was much larger,
drawing 3 ft. 6 inches. He was accompanied by a dozen
European officers, several of whom belonged to the Bel-
gian army; and he had sixty-eight Zanzibar men who were
armed and drilled as soldiers. This number was after-
ward more than doubled. Ample stores for the personal
wants of the party, with tools for building and road-
making, and quantities of cloth and other manufactured
goods to trade with, had been provided for the expedition.
The purpose of the expedition in organizing a Free
State in Central Africa was at once philanthropic, scien-
tific and commercial : to repress the feuds of the native
tribes, to survey and map the Congo River, and to pre-
pare the way for European trade. On August 14th, 1879,
Stanley reached the Congo. Here at the Dutch factory
of Banana were already assembled a flotilla of three
steamers and five other boats with their crews for the
purposes of the expedition. In a week Stanley's steamer,
the Albion, and the flotilla sailed up the mangrove-bor-
der^d stream, which for thirty miles is deep enough to
float the Great Eastern. The volume of the river is sur-
passed only by that of the Amazon.
The second day Boma, a congeries of factories, i.e., of
trading warehouses, is reached. For two hundred years
it was the centre of a cruel slave trade which covered the
land for many a league with mourning and woe. Con-
sequently the country is almost depopulated and untilled,
and scarce a sign of life, beyond the limits of the factory,
is seen. Nevertheless a large trade is done in exchanging
Manchester and Sheffield goods, etc., for the palm oil,
rubber, copal, and ivory, etc., of the interior.
Within thirty-four days vast quantities of stores,
ROAD 'MAKING. 489
wooden huts, machinery, etc., were brought ninety miles
up the river to this new base of operations, and the Albion
was sent back to England.* Stanley proceeded up the
river about seven hours' sail from Boma, to Vivi, above
which navigation is interrupted by strong rapids. Here
he found a fine elevated plateau, accessible from the river
and the interior. A " palaver " was held with the native
chiefs, who were dressed chiefly in cast-off European
clothes. He made a bargain with these shrewd fellows
for a site for a trading station for the sum of £32 and a
rental of £22 a year.
By payment of liberal wages he enlisted the natives in
the work of road-making and preparing the site for his
first station. The difficulty of his task may be estimated
from the fact that it required the carriage of 5,000 tons
of the rich alluvial soil, on men's heads, to the barren
plateau 340 feet above the river to make a garden plot.
Soon he had a large number of buildings erected and his
stores safely housed.
He next proceeded to lay out a road fifty-two miles
long, through the tangled forest and over a rugged coun-
try, to Isangila, where the Congo again became navigable.
He showed much tact in negotiating with the native
chiefs for the right of way, and in restraining his force of
over two hundred men of many European nationalities
or native tribes from any excesses that might lead to a
rupture of peaceful relations. In the interior, animal life
(elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, etc.,) was very numerous..
It was a work of great difficulty to cut down the teak and
other hardwood trees, and to build bridges over the-
numerous streams. The road being constructed, the next
work was to convey over it the steel steamers, with their
heavy boilers and machinery, with all the stores for the
expedition. This involved many journeys to and fro,
amounting1 in all to 2,352 miles. The ponderous loads
were dragged chiefly by human muscle. This advance
* In 1879 there were only two factories above Boma. In 1886 there
were nineteen.
490 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
of fifty-two miles occupied a whole year.* It was at-
tended by much sickness, resulting in the death of six
Europeans and twenty-two natives and the withdrawal of
thirteen invalided whites. Stanley himself became seri-
ously ill with fever, which he tried to break with large
doses of quinine, increasing from 20 grains to 30, 40, 50
and even 60 grains of the potent drug. Believing, after
many days' illness, that his last hour had come, he sum-
moned all his white comrades and faithful black followers.
The scene was of pathetic interest. His tent was pitched
on a hill-top, overlooking the broad Congo, with which his
name will be forever linked. But let the story be told
in his own touching words :
" In a short time there is a rush of many feet round the tent. . . I
can see the rows of seated forms around. I struggle hard to recall my
fleeting senses to advise them what they should do when all would be
over. My thoughts seemed to be distracted between my strong desire to
say something intelligible and a strange brooding over a hollowed grave
somewhere which drew nearer and nearer to me. Again, and yet again,
I strove to utter the words that my lips would not frame.
"'Look well on me, Albert,' I cried. 'Do not move. Fasten your
eyes on me that I may tell you. '
" And the young sailor whose hand clasped mine, fixed his eyes stead-
ily on mine to enable him to conquer the oppressive drowsiness ; and
the sentence was at last, after many efforts, delivered clearly and
intelligently, at which I felt so relieved from my distress that I cried out
' I am saved 1 ' Suddenly a dark cloud came over me, and oblivion,
which lasted many hours, shut out the sense of things."
Though reduced to less than one hundred pounds weight
he gradually recovered strength,-f and took up his Her-
culean task as the pathfinder of civilization in the heart
of Africa. There were turbulent chiefs to subdue, dis-
contents to placate, food supply to provide for — they used
400 pounds of rice per day beside other supplies — and a
thousand things to tax heart and brain.
From Isangila the Congo was navigable for 88 miles to
Manyanga, over which the stores, etc., were conveyed in
fourteen round voyages in 70 days. Another land journey
* For a whole month the rate of progress was only 42 yards a day, and
25 days were spent on a causeway 400 yards long.
t He was attacked with fever, he tells us, 120 times while in Africa.
STANLEY RETURNS TO EUROPE. 491
of 95 miles had now to be made to Stanley Pool ; above
which was an unbroken I'iver navigation of the Congo of
1,000 miles. The road to Stanley Pool was constructed
in much less time than the much shorter one from Vivi
to Isangila, and the strongly built station at Leopoldville
was established. Although trade was not the chief object,
barter with the natives was largely practised to procure
supplies for the expedition, which with new recruits now
numbered over four hundred men. So keen were the
natives for trade that as much as £800 worth of European
goods was sold in two days. From Stanley Pool the in-
trepid explorer sailed up the noble stream which, ho
thinks, surpasses in grandeur the Hudson, the Danube,
or the Mississippi, and, after seven days' journey, discov-
ered on an affluent of the Congo a fine large lake, which
he named after the royal patron of the expedition, Leo-
pold II. There was a strange charm in exploring those
virgin solitudes.
They were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
The prescient mind of Stanley anticipated the day when
the fertile soil and the salubrious climate of this vast
region should become the scene of active industry and of
Christian civilization.
Stanley's health was much broken, and he was com-
pelled, after three years' absence, to return to Europe to
recuperate. The voyage, in a filthy and crowded Portu-
guese vessel, lasted over a month. The success of his
explorations had been so great that it was resolved to
prosecute the work with increased energy ; to arrange for
the construction of a railway around the interrupted
reaches of the river, and for retaining the guardianship of
the country through which it would pass.
After six weeks' stay in Europe Stanley returned to
Africa much invigorated. He found the state of things
greatly demoralized at Vivi and Leopoldville, through the
incompetence and lack of energy of the white agents.
" They had already," he says, " given me more trouble
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
than all the African tribes put together." " I had rather,"
he adds, " be condemned to be a boot-black all my life
than to be a dry-nurse to beings who had no higher claims
to manhood than that externally they might be pretty
pictures of men." Many of the subordinate officers had
disappeared ; conflicts with the natives had broken out
which he had to appease. Leopoldville was on the verge
of starvation, although abundant supplies were lying at
Vivi. The station was grass-grown and ruinous. One of
the steel steamers had lain seventeen months in the water,
and was almost ruined with rust. Several men had been
lost by accident or in quarrels with the natives, etc. Two
rival missions had engaged in a " religious duel with more
zeal than devotion."
•Soon the indefatigable energy of Stanley brought order
out of chaos. Food became again plentiful. Peace was
made with the native tribes. An open mart for trade
was established at the station. Everybody was set to
work, and a fresh expedition was organized for exploring
the Upper Congo.
This expedition occupied a month's monotonous jour-
ney— monotonous on account of the very prodigality of
the forest growths. The river was one and a half times
the size of the Mississippi, with " room enough and to
spare to stow the half of Europe on its comfortable borders."
The monotonous diet also wearied the European palates,
and provoked Stanley to exclaim : " It is only a grand
moral manhood like Livingstone's that rises above those
petty vanities of a continental stomach. Think of his
thirty-two years' life in Africa, and of the unsophisticated
mannikins who to-day are weeping their eyes out at the
memories of a European restaurant before they have been
three months out."
Almost everywhere the natives proved friendly and
keen for trade. "I was much inspired," says Stanley,
"at their intelligent appearance. They had an air of
worldly knowledge and travel about them. From Stan-
ley Pool to Upoto, a distance of 600 miles, they knew
every landing-place on the river." They were greatly
RESOURCES AND BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY. 493
interested in the steamers which now first breasted the
Congo's flood. " It must be strong medicine," they said,
" that the engineers were cooking all day in the black pots
(boilers)."
At last in N. lat. 0° 1' 0" Stanley planted the Equator
Station and left a little garrison of fifty men, and then
returned again to Stanley Pool, which was reached after
two months' absence. But evil tidings again awaited our
explorers. Three of the river stations had been destroyed,
one by fire, with the loss of £1,500 of stores, and thirteen
men were drowned. The Bolobo tribe broke out in war,
the first hostile shot fired by the natives in four year&.
They were soon subdued to peace, and then awed into
terror by an exhibition of the effects of a small Krupp
cannon.
Three months later Equator Station, 757 miles from the
sea and 412 from Leopoldville, was revisited and found to
be admirably established and strengthened. Stanley now
proceeded 600 miles further up the stream to plant a new
station and make treaties with the populous tribes. It
was a dangerous experiment. For along this long river
reach, crowded with hostile villages, he had run the dread-
ful gauntlet in 1877. But the potent " medicine " of the
steam-launches awed the barbaric tribes with some sense
of supernatural power and they were glad to make trea-,
ties of peace. More than fifty times Stanley made blood
brotherhood with those dusky chiefs — " his poor arm,"
he says, " being scarified and his blood shed for the cause
of civilization."
He grows enthusiastic over the resources and beauty of
the country ; the many islands with the gold, white and
crimson flowers, fragant as a grove of spices, and the noble
forest trees " approached in aspect," he says, " as near
Eden's loveliness as anything I shall see on this side of
Paradise." But the chief interest was that of the human
communities whose brawny muscles he hoped to enlist in
the service of civilization. " In every cordial-faced abori-
gine whom I met," he says, " I see a promise of assistance
to me in the redemption of himself from the state of
unproductiveness in which he at present lives."
494 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
Some of the native towns are quite large, containing as
many as 8,000 or even 12,000 people. In this once populous
region the flotilla passed scores of deserted villages, and
then a fleet of a thousand canoes, containing about 5,000
fugitives* from a band of Arab slave - dealers who for
hundreds of miles laid waste the country in their horrid
work. Stanley soon overtook this band of men-stealers,
who had corralled like cattle 2,300 fettered slaves, chained
in groups of twenty each, and wallowing in filth and
misery. They were all women and children, not a man
among them. To capture these they had ravaged a country
larger than Ireland, with 118 towns and villages, occupied
by a million people, and had murdered, Stanley estimated,
33,000 persons. Our hero longed for a British gunboat
and for authority to sweep the miscreants from the
face of the earth. The founding of the Congo Free State
will do much to heal that " open sore of the world," the
slave-trade.
At the fisheries at Stanley Falls, nearly fifteen hundred
miles from the mouth of the Congo, a site for a station was
bought for £160, and a little Scotchman, named Binnie,
with thirty-one blacks, were left here as an advance guard
of civilization.
After an absence of 146 days Stanley returned to Leo-
poldville, having travelled 3,050 miles on the great river.
He made treaties of peace and friendship with 450 sove-
reign chiefs. He pays a high tribute to the influence of
Christian missions. The Livingstone Mission, with the
expenditure of £100, produced in his mind a greater
degree of pleasure than the thriftless expenditure of
£10,000 by the International Colonization Society. Indeed,
the un thrift of the mass of European agents made him
sad and sore at heart. The Society sent out abundant
supplies, but it was very difficult to get energetic agents.
Some of the malingerers cost hundreds of pounds for
medicines and delicacies. General Gordon wrote to Stan-
ley, in January, 1884, " I will willingly serve with and
* A fleet of 12,000 fugitives was afterward met.
STANLEY RETURNS TO VIVI. 495
under you, and we will, God helping, kill the slave-traders
in their haunts. No such efficacious means of cutting at
the root of the slave-trade was ever presented as that
which God has opened to us." But the gallant Christian
hero was soon summoned to meet his strange fate in the
Soudan, as we shall see in the next chapter.
Mr. Stanley returned to Vivi on April 24th. He found
the affairs of that station in a very unpromising state,
owing to the negligence and incompetence of some of the
European agents and superintendents, who were not of
his own selection. There had been great waste of the
Company's property, as well as waste of time ; and Stanley,
who was personally animated by strong feelings of duty
»nd honour, might well be indignant. He soon put
matters right, and then, leaving all the stations in charge
of trustworthy men, returned to Europe, arriving at the
end of July, 1884. He gave lectures on the resources of the
Congo during the autumn months, while friendly diplo-
matists, above all the powerful German statesman, Prince
Bismarck, took up the question of creating a neutral Free
State in that region, as the alternative of permitting it
wholly to become a Portuguese dominion. Prince Bis-
marck, desirous of aiding the Association for -the sake of
German trade, proposed the holding of a European Con-
ference, which assembled at Berlin in November to settle
every territorial question, and to decree resolutions for
the free navigation and traffic of the Congo. At the
meetings of the Conference, which ended on February
26th, 1885, Stanley attended as " technical adviser."
The French, British. German, Austrian, Belgian, Russian,
Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and other Governments
were represented by their ambassadors, aided by special
delegates and experts. They consented, one after another,
formally to recognize the International Association of the
Congo as a new State, and conventions were made by it
with France and Portugal, relating to changes of terri-
tory, which were satisfactory to Stanley and his princi-
pals. The dominions finally assigned to France and
Portugal, on the western side of Central Africa, are of
496 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
great extent and value ; but the Free State, of which
King Leopold is the head, covers two-thirds of the whole
breadth of Central Africa, as far east as Lake Tanganyika
while to the north it approaches the confluents of the
Upper Nile ; and to the south it is on the watershed
dividing the sources of the Congo from the Zambesi. It
has only a very little sea-coast ; but many hundred miles
of the great river flow through its territory, which is rich
in a variety of products affording good mercantile profit.
The King of the Belgians, President of the International
Association of the Congo, has conferred the appointment
of 'Governor of the Free State upon the bold explorer and
successful administrator by whose labours that region has
been won to geographical science and civilization. The
present disposition of the natives seems all that could be
wished ; and we doubt not that, while Mr. Stanley is Gov-
ernor,tl^e Congo Free State may have a good chance of pros-
perit}7, and its administration may benefit the general
interests of mankind. At a meeting of the delegates of
the fourteen Powers of Christendom, held in Berlin, April
20th, 1886 — Prince Bismarck presiding — "THE CONGO
FREE STATE " was formally recognized and admitted into
the family of nations.
The construction of 150 miles of railway around the
rapids of the Congo will open up to commerce 10,000
miles of river navigation through a country peopled by
43,000,000 of inhabitants. Among its resources are ivory,
palm oil, rubber, gums, varnish, ground-nuts, precious
woods, fruits, rice, sugar, cotton, maize, iron, copper, coal,
etc. France secures as a result of previous exploration
257,000 square miles — equal to the area of England and
France combined. Portugal secures nearly half as much
more. The Congo Free State covers 1,660,000 square
miles, or about seven times the area of both France and
England together, while the free trade area covers
2,400,000 square miles extending across the whole of
Central Africa to within one degree of the East Coast.
This vast region is secured forever for free trade. The
slave-trade is to be rigidly suppressed. Italy, to its honour,
THE SOUDAN. 497
sought to suppress the liquor traffic, but Germany and
Holland strenuously objected. But the nefarious traffic
is to be rigidly regulated. Missions are to be protected
and encouraged. These rights are guaranteed by the
signatures of fourteen European Powers.
The founding of such a State, with its own government
and its own flag, is one of the greatest achievements ever
permitted to man, and to its accomplishment no one has
contributed so much, as, by his seventeen years of explo-
ration and toil, has Henry M. Stanley.
CHAPTER XLIII.
" CHINESE " GORDON IN AFRICA, AND GEN. WOLSELEY'S
EXPEDITION TO RELIEVE HIM.
The Revolt in the Soudan — Extent of the Country — Kind of Inhabitants
— Who is the Mahdi ? — British Money Lender — " Chinese " Gordon
sent to the Soudan — He believes in his own Divinely appointed
Mission to succeed — He arrives at Khartoum — Burns the Govern-
ment Books — Holds the place for a year against the Mahdi — Wolseley
sent to rescue him — Canadian Soldiers — Difficult feats — The Camel
Corps— Gordon Killed— The Fall of Khartoum— The War ended. ;
A FORMIDABLE religious revolt broke out on No-
vember 12th, 1882, under Mahomet Achmet, the
Mahdi of the Soudan.
The Soudan, or " Black Country," is separated by five
hundred miles of rainless and waterless desert from the
Egypt of the Nile valley. It extends from Assouan on
the Equator, and from Massowah)((on the Red Sea, to Dar-
four, a territory 1,650 miles long by 1,200 broad. It in-
cludes the Provinces of Khartoum, Sennaar, Fashoda, and
the magnificently fertile alluvial valleys of the rivers At-
bara and Ay teck. Professor Kean (a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society, who is the most recent authority on
498 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
the Soudan country) states that the Soudan rivals and
excels the fertility of the Egyptian delta, the alluvial
deposits of the Atbara being spread over many millions
of arable and forest-bearing lands.
The inhabitants of the Soudan are, as the name denotes,
mainly of negro race; but, as the present writer was as-
sured by the Austrian explorer, Baron Vanderdecker, the
Negroid tribes north of the Killimanjaro Range are far
superior in physique to the Negroes of Equatorial Africa
and the Mozambique. The hardy Arab and Moorish blood
is thoroughly intermixed with that of the Negro tribes,
the result being a race temperate in habits, skilled in
desert warfare, and utterly without fear of death.
If there exist any survivors of the sentimentalists who
fifty years ago, used to gush over Tom Moore's Veiled
Prophet in " Lalla Rookh," they will recognize the Mahdi
as his legitimate successor. It had been foretold them
that in twelve centuries from the Hegira a new Mahomet
would appear to conquer the world in the cause of Islam.
A runaway schoolboy, a companion of quacks and fana-
tics, declared himself to be the Mahdi in 1881. In December
of that year he annihilated an Egyptian force of 350 men,
and by a series of subsequent successes gained command
of the entire Soudan region. The Egyptian Government,
which in reality represented the British money-lender,
was threatened with the loss of a large portion of its
income. In England a Liberal Government, professedly
opposed to militancy, was in power; it was felt to be unde-
sirable to engage in any great military operations. Yet,
it was desirable to uphold the bankrupt Egyptian tyrant;
hold on to the taxes extractable from the Soudanese;
the Gladstone Cabinet thought that in " Chinese " General
Gordon they had hit on the man for the situation.
" Chinese " Gordon was an adventurer belonging to the
class of Sir Walter Raleigh and Admiral Blake, not with-
out a dash of Captain Kidd and Praise-God Barebone.
A muscular Christian and a fatalist, he had much power
of attaching those whom he led to himself personally,
had a blind belief in his own divinely appointed mission
THE SOUDANESE WAR. 499
— to succeed; he went into action with no other weapon
than a walking-stick, and when in doubt as to military
measures tossed up a copper to consult Providence by the
simple but familiar method of " head or tail." Gordon
went to Khartoum with an informal mission, without an
adequate force, and in the face of the foe whose most
familiar weapon was treachery.
Charged by the British Government with "the pacifica-
tion of the Soudan," — in other words, the reduction into the
foreign tyranny of the Egyptian tax-collector of a free
and fierce nationality of over 12,000,000 — "Chinese"
Gordon arrived at Khartoum on February the 18th, 1884.
He publicly burned the Government books, thus reliev-
ing from debt thousands of taxpayers; he released the
political offenders from prison, and was apparently all-
powerful. For a year this one English soldier, single-
handed, held possession of Khartoum, fighting with what
force he could collect against the victorious hordes of the
Mahdi. At length a sense of shame was aroused in the
mind of the English public, and an army under General
Wolseley was once more despatched to Egypt with orders
to push on to the Soudan and rescue Gordon. The wish
of the British people was rather the rescue of Gordon
than the conquest of the Soudan, or the "smashing " of the
Mahdi.
From the first the Soudanese war had been associated
with disaster, though more directly to the Egyptian
Government. Egyptian armies were twice defeated by
the brave fanatics hurled against the Egyptian bayonets
by the Mahdi. The disasters of Hicks Pasha and of
Baker Pasha were as shadows thrown beforehand by the
greater loss of Gordon. After the slaughter of the gal-
lant Hicks, the followers of the Mahdi grew infuriate in
their fanaticism. They swarmed around Tokar, then
held Sincat in a state of seige. Within the feeble oat-
works of this little place, Tewfik Bey, with his handful of
followers, was abandoned to die.
The generous indignation of the English people had
secured a vote of £3,000,000, and the despatch of 10,000
500 EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
men under Lord Wolseley, to rescue Khartoum. In this
expedition Canada was well and ably represented.
Lord Wolseley knew by his experience in the Red River
expedition the value of Canadian soldiership. By com-
municating with Lord Melgund and the Canadian
authorities he procured nearly five hundred Canadian
voyageurs, some from the Ottawa district, some from the
Red River, and a body of Indians from the Caughna-
waga reserve. This part of Wolseley 's army amply ful
filled the expectation of the General. The good steering
and stalwart arms of these brave sons of Canada suc-
ceeded in accomplishing apparently impossible feats in
ascending the cataracts and rapids of the great Egyptian
river. Ropes were attached to osier bushes above the
rapids, and all hands strained to haul on the ropes till the
force of the rapids had been overcome.
The following description is taken from a letter by
one of our brave voyageurs, and tells of one of the most
difficult feats accomplished.
" Abbatfatma was the most dangerous place we have
yet encountered on the river. We arrived there just as the
sudden blaze of the tropical sunset gave place to dark-
ness. We could just see miles upon miles of river above
and below, and far off in the east the sky and river meet-
ing. The horizon broken here and there by great conical
hills, table-topped, standing out of the dreary waste of
the sandy desert in sullen, solitary grandeur. Our boat
was unlucky in the first attempt. We lost hold on the
rope, the boat swung broadside on to the eddy, and was
dashed against a rock by the whole force of the current.
Luckily, our oars caught the force of the collision, other-
wise boat and men would have run their last trip."
Not the least successful part of the operations in the
Soudan was Lord Wolseley 's employment of the Canadian
voyageurs ; and the English Government, by their liberal
treatment of the Canadians on their return, has added
another link to the bonds which unite Canada to the
Mother Country.
Another useful provision for the Soudan warfare for
GORDON IN KHARTOUM. 501
which Lord Wolseley deserves credit was the organization
of the Camel Corps. This was composed of detachments
from the three Household Cavalry Regiments, seven
Battalions of the Guards, sixteen Cavalry Regiments, and
a part of the Naval Brigade. The camel is one of the
oldest of domesticated animals. As early as the time of
Herodotus (400 B. C.) no memory existed of camels being
found in a wild state. "The ship of the desert," alone of
living creatures, can travel for ten days without water, for
twenty days without food. A good idea of the modus
vivendi of Lord Wolseley 's Camel Corps may be derived
from the following statement of an eye-witness. " The
scene at the starting was quaint in the extreme. Camels
were there of every size and hue, bellowing one and all as
though in direst agony ; some of them bestridden by
English soldiers on their red leather saddles ; some by
officers who preferred the comfortable Soudan saddle,
some by naked sons of the desert, and without saddles of
any kind."
Meanwhile Gordon held Khartoum, and strengthened its
defences with the utmost skill. Broken glass, crowfeet,
tangled wire, chevaux de frise and a triple line of percus-
sion mines protected the time-worn old walls of stone.
Gordon's armed steamers traversed the Nile, and did much
to check the foe. But treachery accomplished what the
utmost efforts of a vast armed population had failed in.
On the morning of the 27th of January, 1885, a black
slave whom Gordon had emancipated and enriched, and
whom he trusted implicitly, opened the southern gates of
Khartoum to the Mahdi's soldiers. As they entered the
main street, General Gordon came out of Government
House ; the moment he appeared he fell dead, shot and
stabbed by the Arabs.
The stabbing to death of General Gordon and the con-
sequent fall of Khartoum, the Nile capital of the Soudan,
were among the most crushing military reverses England
has sustained.
With that event the Soudanese war was practically
ended. Public opinion in England, ever since Gordon's
502
EXPLORATIONS IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.
death became announced, has been against devoting more
blood and treasure to an attempt to hold a country in no
way connected with English interests, and with a climate
fatal to Europeans. With many minor episodes of sol-
dier ly prowess, the general result of the Soudanese war
has lowered the reputation of General Wolseley, has not
raised that of any other commander, and has proved a
military and financial burden unequalled since the dis-
astrous expedition of the British to Walcheren, or the
Athenians to Syracuse.
England leaves as memorials of her visit to the Soud-
anese only an unfinished railway, and many hundreds of
skeletons bleaching on the desert sands.
SIR GAENET WOLSELEY, G.C.B.
University of California
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